Discovering Immortality
by Forksobsessed
Summary: Fred is a newborn who arranges to meet up with another newborn, Bree. She doesn't show up. She is dead, of course, but Fred doesn't know that. He sets off on his own voyage of discovery. Can he find friendship and romance?
1. Chapter 1 Rejection

Authors note: I don't own Twilight, nor any of the characters in it. I am just obsessed with it.

This story follows Fred, one of the escaped Newborns, created by Victoria to destroy the Cullens. It is not necessary to have read The Bree Tanner story as anything relevant will be described within this story as Fred remembers the days when the army was being created. All you really need to know is that Fred escaped the morning of the battle and that he had arranged to meet Bree, a young girl he had shielded and befriended. She would never show up though, and this is where Fred's story starts.

This story is basically a re-write of the first story I submitted, which follows Bree, however I decided to quit messing with Stephenie Meyer's storyline and allow Bree to die, thus forcing Fred to venture off on his own. Apologies to those that have read my other story, there are parts of this one that are essentially the same, certainly for the first few chapters.

**Chapter One**

** Rejection**

How much longer should I wait? I had already given her and extra day. Of course, being immortal, it didn't really matter I supposed. What was an extra day when you had all of eternity?

Had my instructions not been clear? I recalled the moment I had said goodbye to Bree and wished her luck. 24 hours I had told her. Riley Park, Vancouver, and I would leave her a trail, which I had. Of course, she had gone to retrieve her mate who had been sent off on some supposed reconnaissance mission by that thug Riley. I hadn't wanted to spoil her enthusiasm by telling her he was probably already dead. I smiled at the irony of our intended meeting place, Riley Park, when it was Riley that had brought us together, Riley who had been creating an army of newborns to wipe out the Olympic Coven. But my smile was short-lived as I remembered the way we had suffered at the hands of our so called mentor. It had been Hell.

However, it hadn't been long before I had discovered that I had a special skill for keeping out of trouble. Whenever I had wanted to appear almost invisible, I had discovered that I could exude an aura so repulsive that others would shy away from looking at me. I had used this repulsion on that morning, when I had made my bid for freedom. I doubted that Riley would even have noticed that I didn't follow the others into battle. He couldn't even look at me.

It was now almost two days since I had gone my separate way. I regretted not telling Bree that my belief was that Diego was already dead. I should have insisted she came with me. Instead, she had probably joined the fight with the others and was almost certainly dead herself. Riley's miscreants were so disorganised, they didn't stand a chance. They would probably end up fighting each other rather than the enemy we were supposed to destroy. This was why I hadn't joined in the fight myself, besides, it wasn't my fight. I didn't even know who this mysterious yellow-eyed coven were. Why would I want to fight them? They had done me no harm.

Or, maybe she had found Diego, maybe he had been still alive? One thing I could now be sure of was that she wasn't coming. I would have to face the future alone.

I didn't mind that too much. I had always been a bit of a loner. I had preferred my own company, even when I was human. Bree had been an exception though. I guessed we were two of a kind. She was the only one who had braved the unpleasantness of my odour to spend any time with me. She hadn't wanted to be noticed either, and of course, hiding behind me had been for her own benefit. But I had felt we were kindred spirits, and I had been looking forward to seeing her slightly shy, but pleasant smile again. I was just a little annoyed with myself though for wasting two days waiting around for her when I could have been putting more distance between myself and Forks. If Riley and any of his army had by some miracle survived, I didn't want to risk them catching up with me.

So, it was with a slightly heavy heart that I began my solo voyage of discovery that June day. I didn't really know where I was heading. It didn't really matter. I glanced momentarily at my passport that I had been carrying with me all this time and decided ruefully that I couldn't risk using it. I looked just a little too different now from the photo it contained. The dark red eyes were a bit of a giveaway, not to mention the sparkling quality of my perfect unblemished skin in daylight. For now I would have to stick to this continent, sneaking across the borders under cover of darkness. Stealth was not a problem for vampires generally, but in my case, with my special skill, I would never be noticed and never be found if I didn't want to be.

It was a sunny day so I had to keep to the shadows. I wasn't altogether sure how effective my repulsion was to humans and I didn't want to run any risks. Bree had warned me that there were vampire police who punished by death any of our kind who gave themselves away to the humans. Our existence had to remain a secret. No doubt I drew enough attention to myself in the odd way I was dressed for such a warm summers day. I wore a long overcoat, hat and sunglasses, but this was essential to cover my eyes and my skin. Besides, humans were appallingly bad at noticing things. Their senses were so dull and they were all so preoccupied with their daily existence they failed to observe even the blindingly obvious.

I had spent some time in Vancouver during my childhood and my local knowledge came in handy. It wasn't long before I found the outskirts of the city, and the cover of forest. From here I could travel safely north to Alaska.


	2. Chapter 2 Fresh Start

**Chapter Two**

** Fresh Start**

I reached the Alaskan border by sunset. It was spectacular. Breath-taking scenery, endless forests, mountains, fjords. I was glad to be alive, glad to be free, and the terrible darkness of the months spent hiding out in the basements of Seattle with Riley and his gang of mindless morons seemed a lifetime ago.

I hadn't really thought much on my immortality before now. Maybe I hadn't allowed myself such a luxury when my existence has seemed to be so futile. But what did vampires do when they weren't killing humans for their blood? I decided I needed some entertainment so, as I arrived at Anchorage, the Capital City of Alaska, I stopped off at a store to acquire some new books and CD's and some batteries for my portable CD player. As I was leaving the store I spotted a computer games consul so I helped myself to that and a couple of games too. I managed to leave the store shortly before I heard the sirens coming. I had triggered the alarm when I had broken into the till to steal some cash. Stupid really – I wasn't sure what I needed cash for, but you never know…

Anchorage was a normally quiet city and I figured I had probably given the police enough to think about for one night, so I headed for the docks to lay low for a while, hoping to find a snack on the way. Sadly, there wasn't a human in sight.

After a couple of hours had passed I was bored, and thirsty, and of course, the more I thought about it, the worse the pain in my throat became. I had been a vampire for just over a year now and I found I could actually go days without hunting, but once I started to think about it I was still finding it hard to focus on anything other than the sweet smell of human blood.

My super sharp senses were picking up an entirely different smell now though, the unmistakeable aroma of vampires. They wouldn't be able to detect me though, and I smiled to myself at the retching feeling they were probably experiencing right now as they detected my aura. I was able to tell instantly that there were two of them, a male and a female and when I concentrated fully I realised that their scent was not entirely unfamiliar. I had to struggle to pinpoint it exactly but I eventually remembered the scent belonged to another couple of Riley's newborns who had escaped a couple of months ago. I couldn't immediately recall their names but Riley had said they had got burned by the sun when they hadn't returned one night, but we had since learned that the sun didn't burn us, so this was just another one of his lies. One of the many lies he had told us to keep us in fear and ignorance.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to be found, but in the instant I finally remembered their names I found myself calling out to them, more out of curiosity than any desire for company.

"Hey there Steve, Shelly," I called. "It's ok, it's Fred." I switched my repulsion off at the same time as I called out to them hoping they would recognise my normal scent. I crept forward cautiously so as not to startle them. "Freaky Fred" I added, remembering my nick-name from the basement.

Steve and Shelly now visibly relaxed their posture, looked at each other and then back at me with smiles of recognition spreading across their marble-like faces.

"Well hello there, welcome," Steve said, now stepping forward confidently with his hand out-stretched. Shelley was at his side in a sudden flash but was obscuring herself partly by Steve's massive body, still seemingly a little unsure of herself. I recalled that she was always the quieter of the two and so I guess she was more wary of strangers.

"So this is where you disappeared to?" I asked

"Yeah, been here about three months now," Steve replied, looking pleased with himself.

"It's a little longer than that now," Shelley corrected him.

"So, you guys figured it out too then, about the sun I mean?" I asked

Steve let out a long laugh. It broke the tension and we all laughed at the ridiculous notion that the sun would burn us to a frazzle.

"Yeah." Steve explained. "We came back from hunting one night and found the house burned to the ground, nothing unusual about that! But, the sun had started to rise, and well, we just sort of realised that if the weak sun at daybreak hadn't killed us, we would see what happened if we stayed out a bit longer. So, anyway, yeah, to cut a long story short, we didn't go back. Riley was becoming a nightmare anyway!"

"Yeah, you're right about that!" I let out a sigh and rolled my eyes.

"So what happened to you? How long did you stay?"

"Long enough to narrowly avoid the fight"

"Fight?" Shelly gasped

"Yeah. I guess maybe you two left before Riley made his intentions clear?" I paused long enough to notice Steve knitting his brows together in confusion. "Riley, well the female controlling him at least, had been building an army, of sorts. She had some sort of feud thing going with a yellow-eyed coven in Forks. It was a shambles though, Riley had no control. He kept bringing in newborns to replace newborns because they just kept killing each other. Anyway, one day Riley announced that the fight was going to take place the next day so I parted company." With this I shrugged and smiled, noticing that Steve and Shelly seemed to be exchanging glances.

"So, are you just passing through?" Steve asked in a way that vaguely hinted he hoped I wouldn't be sticking around for too long.

"Well yeah. Maybe." I replied, a little unsure why he had asked the question. "I haven't really got a plan, as yet. It's only my third day of freedom."

"Sure," Steve replied, nodding thoughtfully. "Stick around for a while if you want. We have a place not far from here."

"OK thanks," I muttered, not really sure if I wouldn't really rather have my own company. Still, Steve and Shelly seemed nice enough. They weren't like the majority of Riley's crowd. They seemed educated and refined. They had not been the product of a life in the slums of Seattle where Riley recruited had most of the newborns. They more than likely just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like myself.

The sun was beginning to rise as I followed them back to the temporary accommodation they had been using and Steve gestured for me to enter. "In between owners at the moment" Steve grinned in explanation. The side door of the large town-house had steps leading down to the basement. "We use the basement because it doesn't draw attention" Steve explained. "So, you are welcome to stay for while if you want. There is plenty of room."

Yes, it was a big enough basement for just three vampires. I recalled the time when there were twenty or more of us crammed into a much smaller basement, not so long ago.

"Thanks, that's kind of you. I won't be in your way for long." And then I painfully remembered the need I had for human blood. "Um, Steve?" I asked and he raised his eyebrows in anticipation. "What about hunting?"

"No problem," he replied, "Just be discreet, that's all we ask."

Shelly nodded approvingly.

I assured them I would be. I had to admit, although it was nice to catch up with Steve and Shelly, and I looked forward to exchanging stories with them, however, I was a little disappointed. I had been hoping to run into some older vampires who might be able to answer some of my questions. Steve and Shelly hadn't been around any longer than I had.

"So, do you guys hang out here during the daytime?" I asked Shelly as we sat down. Shelly was flicking through the channels of the television set in the corner of the room absent-mindedly and then she eventually settled on one of the many news channels.

"Yeah, sometimes, usually I guess," she replied. "Sometimes we go out and mingle with the humans. We have been practising hard you see, to try and adapt, so that we won't get noticed."

It would be nice I thought to be able to get to the stage where I could do this.

"You see, we figure that if we are in this for eternity, then we might as well try and live a full and normal life as much as is possible. We don't want to spend for ever hiding in basements."

I smiled and nodded.

"I guess we had better lie low for now though." She added looking a little embarrassed.

I knew what she had meant. There was a stranger in her midst and she wasn't sure I was civilised enough to mingle with the humans as they did. As long as I was here, they would not be able to pursue their normal daily activities.

"Don't worry" I assured her, "I really don't intend to be around for long, and besides, I'm not some uncontrollable newborn, I am pretty sure I can behave myself." It had now become obvious why they had been reluctant to offer me hospitality. They had a way of life which they didn't want compromised. So I gave them my best smile as I told them "Hey, I've got a whole new life ahead of me. I don't know where I am going, but I need to put some serious distance between myself and Forks!"

Steve came over then and sat on the arm of Shelly's chair and put his arm around her.

"There is something you need to know about Forks," he said cautiously, "Just in case you ever think of returning there."

"Unlikely," I told him, "But do go on"

Shelly looked a bit uncomfortable, I thought.

"There are other supernatural beings in Forks besides vampires," he continued. "I haven't seen them myself, but a few days ago we ran into Diego. Do you remember Diego?"

I gasped, "Diego's alive?"

"Well, yes, if you can call this existence life," Steve grinned.

I nodded, understanding his meaning, "please, go on...I thought he was dead."

"No, but he very nearly was." He seemed hesitant to continue now. "OK, well, Diego was on the run. He had been sent on some reconnaissance mission by Riley. Something to do with a human girl the Forks coven was protecting. Riley had wanted to know how many of them were protecting her. Well, Diego didn't even get close to finding out. He was chased off by enormous wolves, huge ferocious wolves, well, more than just wolves, _werewolves_."

My mouth was agape. "Werewolves?...I thought they were just mythological."

"Well, be fair Fred, I'm sure you thought vampires were mythological too before you became one."

I forced my mouth shut and smiled, bemused, "yeah, I guess….."

"Well anyway, Shelly and me, well we didn't believe it either, but we did some research, on the internet," he glanced up to the ceiling, presumably indicating there was a computer upstairs. "The werewolf is the only natural enemy of the vampire."

"You mean there is stuff on the internet about us?" I asked with a hint of disbelief.

"Mostly story-book stuff, you know, vampires sleep in coffins and only come out at night, that sort of thing." Steve raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

"That doesn't make any sense. I mean how did Diego know they were werewolves?" I asked.

"He saw them phase, from a distance I mean. And here is another interesting thing. Werewolves are supposed to be creatures of the night too, supposedly they can only phase under a full moon, but this was broad daylight." Fred paused and then seemed to remember the story he was supposed to be telling. "Yeah, well, he had been hiding up in the mountains watching them. There was one that had darker skin and didn't look like he really belonged with the others. He, this dark-skinned one, had been carrying the human girl around in his arms before he took off on his own. Diego had tried to follow this darker skinned _vampire_, simply because he had gone off in a different direction to the others and it was less of a threat, but it turns out he wasn't a vampire after all. Later on he had met up with a couple of wolves and then he observed him _phasing_ into one of them. That was when they caught his scent and chased him to within inches of his life. Luckily for him he was able to escape into the ocean."

"Unbelievable," was all I could manage. And then I wondered what had happened to Diego, wondering if he had returned to find Bree.

Steve must have interpreted my next question. "We are not sure what happened to Diego," Steve offered. "He was in a state over a young girl he wanted to rescue from Riley's coven. He hadn't been sure how many of them there were, the wolves, that is. He had been chased by three of them, but he had heard others in the distance, howling, so there were definitely more than three. But he kept saying he must go back for her."

I was trying to piece it all together. There was a coven of older vampires residing in Forks, protecting a _human_ pet. They had yellow eyes and possessed many skills. They were surrounded by _werewolves_ who chased off any strangers. Were the werewolves protecting the human girl too? One of the wolves had been carrying the human girl. Was the girl under the protection of the werewolves and the vampires actually had nothing to do with it? Were the Forks vampires some kind of vampire-wolf mutation? Is that why their eyes were yellow? Maybe they weren't even vampires at all? None of it made sense.

"So, Diego? He was intending to return for Bree?" I asked

"Bree?" Steve replied. "Yes, I suppose, if that was her name. I don't recall…. Shelly and I had gone back to Seattle to see if you lot were still hanging around, just out of curiosity really, but you had moved on, the last place we could find any trace of you, down near the river, was burned to the ground." Steve grinned and rolled his eyes. "How many houses did you lot get through?"

"Dunno, I lost count," I replied, laughing.


	3. Chapter 3 Family

**Chapter Three**

** Family**

I stayed with Steve and Shelly for a few months in the end, sometimes I ventured off on my own to give them a little privacy, sometimes we hung out together. Steve and Shelly had filled me in on their lives since leaving the basement coven. They hadn't really gone very far at all. They had settled here in Anchorage because there didn't seem to be a problem with any other local vampires. They had received a visit from a coven based at Denali, which was some distance to the north of Anchorage, but that had purely been a curiosity visit combined with a polite request to behave themselves. They had not heard from them again. The weird thing about them was that Steve had noticed that they too had yellow-eyes. Presumably they must be as old as the Forks coven. Riley had said that vampire's eyes turned yellow with age. I had wondered how old you had to be in vampire years before your eyes started to change colour. I was pleased at least that mine had darkened and were no longer the shocking bright red of a newborn.

I felt so comfortable here with them that I had temporarily shelved my plans to travel the world. Besides, I kept reminding myself that I was immortal and I had all of eternity to do anything I wanted. The main reason for not wanting to be within a million miles of Forks seemed to have vanished. There had been no sign of Riley or his female accomplice. I still kept myself hidden pretty much constantly just in case. I had found I could extend it to cover Steve and Shelly too. That way it wasn't unbearable for them to be near me.

The event which prompted me to decide to leave was the sudden need to find alternative living accommodation. That was one of the perils of being a vampire. You had to make do with whatever the humans didn't particularly want. One morning, the family, presumably, of the previous occupier had arrived to pack up some personal effects. We had seen them arriving just as we were about to return to the house so we stayed out of sight until they had gone. Later that day A Real Estate board had been erected in the front garden so we knew it wouldn't be long before new people would want to move in, and since the house wasn't likely to be advertised as "comes complete with three resident vampires" we decided that we should make plans to leave. I took the decision that it was time I left behind my friends in Anchorage and set off on my own, as I had originally intended almost six months ago.

It had been fun though. Shelly had trusted me well enough in the end to allow me to join in her human-mingling game, satisfying herself that I had enough self-control not to kill everyone in sight. I found to my amusement it was almost fun going into a shop to pay for something and was glad I had decided to help myself to that stash of cash at the CD store on arrival in Anchorage. It had been especially good fun and a little bit cheeky to go back to that very store and purchase a couple of CD's. It was definitely better to be able to pretend at being human rather than having to spend an eternity in hiding.

As the days got shorter as the winter approached it became easier. There was less direct sunlight and less daylight hours. It was, I decided, the best time to head to the Southern States of North America. I would spend the winter there and then head to South America and visit some of the exotic sounding places I had seen on the map in school Geography lessons. By then it would be their winter and I would again benefit from less daylight hours. I had a plan, at last.

My reason for wanting to visit the Southern States, particularly Texas, was not purely coincidental. I wanted to check on my family that I had left behind. I wondered if they had finished grieving yet. My untimely disappearance had been such a shock to my mother and father they had returned to Texas, my mother's birthplace to start afresh with my two younger siblings. I had read it in the paper. Brief accounts of the violence that had swept through Seattle, missing teenagers, worried families, vandalism, murder, frightened residents, none of it had gone unnoticed. This had made Riley mad I remembered. "We are supposed to be keeping a low profile" he had shouted at us. It had mainly been Raoul and Kevin, the two most unruly members of the gang. Their indiscreet hunting left a stream of debris behind them. The more responsible ones, like myself ,made a habit of trying to clean up their mess before daybreak, before the reporters were made aware of it. This made life more bearable for all of us. It kept Riley off our backs.

I remembered one newspaper article headed "Grief-Stricken family returns to Texas". This was about my mother and father who had come to Seattle to find me. I had been at University and had just disappeared without trace. They never found a body. Of course they didn't. I was still using it. I wanted so desperately to let them know I was OK, sort of, an immortal monster, undead, but not dead, but I couldn't. How could I reveal myself to them in my current state? No, my survival, if that was what you could call it, had to remain a secret. Better to let them think I had gone for good. They could put me behind them and get on with their lives. There had been some sort of memorial service for me but I hadn't gone. It was too risky, although I had did visit the church later to view the record of the event, which had been very weird indeed. Seeing my name in black and white as _departed_ had put a closure on my former life.

So their trip to Seattle had been in vain, they had not uncovered any evidence to suggest I was alive, and after a short stay of a couple of weeks they had decided not to return to Boston where they had been living for the past eight years, and where my young sister had been born, but to return to Texas, the place where my mother had grown up, where she had met my father and where I had ultimately been born.

I stopped off at several places on the way to Texas. Travelling was so effortless for a vampire. I passed through the Rocky Mountains and then travelled south to marvel at the Grand Canyon. Its sheer size was awesome. It was so much better than the picture books. At night-time when there were no other tourists around I practiced leaping across the ravines, just to see how far I could jump. I then headed west through the Gila National Forest in New Mexico and eventually arrived in Texas mid-January.

I had very little memory, if any, of Texas. I had only been three years old when we had left. So, it was very much an adventure for me. I didn't really know what to expect. I wasn't sure exactly where in Texas, it was a huge state, but I would start in Galveston, where we had lived before. This seemed the most likely place for my family to return to. Galveston was virtually isolated from the mainland, only linked by a single bridge so I assumed my siblings would be attending school there, and it didn't take me long to locate them. I kept a reasonable distance from the school gates, not wanting to arouse suspicion by the way I was dressed in my hoodie, to cover my skin, and my sunglasses to mask my eyes. My little sister, Karen was collected from the school gates by my mother. They didn't see me, of course. I was a good five hundred feet away at the end of the block. That was one of the advantages of being a vampire, excellent eyesight.

I followed them at a reasonable distance to their home which was just a short walk away. I could just pick out Karen chattering excitedly about her day, what she had learned. I wondered if she missed me. She had only been six when I went to University, but had always been so excited to see me when I returned home for vacation. I waited outside the house, but hidden from view for the rest of the family to arrive. Paul, my brother came next, on his bike which he threw casually against the wall before it clattered to the ground. He never did have any respect for property. He was at High School now, in his senior year. I wondered if my parents would be so keen for him to go to University. They had been so thrilled when I had graduated, so proud of me.

I sighed as I remembered the pride in my father's voice as he had informed our friends and relatives that William, yes, that was my real name, had graduated and was going to University in Washington State. I had adopted the name Fred after Riley had changed me, not wanting anyone to know my real identity, ashamed of what I had become, unaware at the time of our purpose and not wishing to bring any disrepute or shame to my family and my former life.

My brother was so much like me to look at. It must have been a painful reminder to my parents. He had the same wavy blond hair, the same thick eye-brows and the same stature, slightly larger than average. He was almost three years younger than me, but to see him now was like looking at myself in the mirror. I hadn't matured, of course, since my transformation and technically he was now almost as old as me. We could be twins.

I hated doing this; spying on my family. They all looked happy enough though, going about their lives. I wondered how long before my father came home. He might, of course, be at sea. He had spent a lot of my childhood away at sea, being in the Merchant Navy. I had very few recollections of him in the early years. I wondered absent-mindedly if I could sneak nearer to get another glimpse of them, but it risked exposure. There was no cover between the tree I hid behind and the house itself, the front garden being completely laid to lawn. My brothers discarded bike lay on the path by the front door. Maybe after it went dark, and it would be dark soon enough. I had no-where else to go. Muffled sounds came from inside the house. My mother preparing tea I guessed. Suddenly the front door opened and then slammed shut again as my brother reappeared taking his bike around to the garage. I guessed from his disgruntled posture and the way he wrenched open the garage door that he had been nagged to do it. Nothing changed much. Paul was always idle, never seeing the point of tidiness, or taking care of things. His bedroom had been like a bomb-site. I wondered if it was any different now. I might be able to sneak a peep later.

A while later and my father's car swung into the driveway. I had to duck behind the tree on its approach to avoid being seen.

So that was it, my family complete, apart from me, of course. I pondered over the afterlife. I had never been a particularly religious person, nor had my family, but since becoming immortal I wondered if it were possible to meet up after death. I couldn't really think how it would work. In less than a hundred years my family would be dead, and I would still be nineteen years old. The only way a vampire could die is to be killed by another vampire, or other such supernatural form, a werewolf maybe? Perhaps, if I believed that vampires could have an afterlife I could go back to Forks and let the wolves rip me to pieces.

I missed my family terribly and it filled me with sadness to be this close yet unable to be a part of it. The noise inside the house had subsided. I guessed the kitchen must have been the room at the front of the house with the checked curtains. That was why I had been able to hear my mother preparing tea so clearly. I guessed the family had eaten now. I could hear the sound of the television coming from the other side of the house, and another sound, music, probably coming from Paul's bedroom. I listened intently to the thud thud thud, but it wasn't anything I recognised. Paul had an obscure taste in music I remembered. As I was deciding whether to leave now that I knew they were all well, the music stopped and within a few more seconds Paul was running out of the front door, slamming it shut behind him calling out "Yeah, OK, I will" to whatever question had been thrown at him by my anxious parents. A muffled "Bye" came from within the house. The next minute Paul was tearing out of the driveway in our father's car. He was out for the night I guessed. I was filled with envy suddenly. I pictured him with a few of his mates, out having a laugh, or maybe out on a date?

It was going dark now so I guessed I could take a peek inside the house before I left. I had no trouble scaling the wall up to the balcony that seemed to traverse the whole front of the house. From here I could see into my sister's bedroom. I knew it had to be hers because it was decorated in pink and was full of girly things. On her bed sat the enormous teddy bear I had bought her for Christmas the first year I had come back from University. On a shelf above the bed was a huge assortment of dolls and fluffy animals. She would be going to bed soon I guessed. I didn't want to startle her so I moved to the next room. It was my parents. I was drawn to the large photo frame on the table next to the bed. It contained a photo of me in my graduation robes. I imagined my mother looking at it every night every night before she went to sleep, sighing, wondering, resigning herself to the fact that I was gone. As I took in the rest of the room I heard footsteps on the stairs, two sets, and my mother's voice "Come on now, it's time for bed now, stop delaying" and Karen's lamenting plea "But mum..." A door being shut and then Karen's voice again "Can I kiss William goodnight?" and then the bedroom door opened, the room I was peering into. I had to duck behind the curtain but I was just able to view Karen picking up the photo frame and giving it a kiss. I ducked further behind the curtain as my mother walked towards the window and pulled the curtains across. That had been close! My mother presumably then persuaded her to go to bed as I heard movement from Karen's room again. I couldn't see in because the curtains had been pulled in this room too. I could hear my mother reading her a story. The Sleeping Beauty.

All seemed well and normal. It was like any other families night at home, but this was my family. It was hard to tear myself away, but I couldn't do anything here, and it hurt so much. If only I could tell them...If there was some way to let them know. What would I say though? "Hi mum, hi dad, you'll never guess what – yeah, that's right, I'm a vampire and I feed on humans" Yeah, that would make them really proud.

I hated being like this, a monster, a loathsome monster, preying on unsuspecting humans, bleeding them dry. The only consolation was that wherever I could I tried to take out the kind that looked like they were up to no good, the dregs of society who wouldn't be missed. Riley had told us to do this. Of course his motives had been to avoid creating suspicion. My motive was to try and do society a favour. I had to feed, but at least if I fed on those who were less desirable then I couldn't be seen as _all_ bad, could I?

I swung down from the balcony in one easy soundless movement. I knew where they were now and I knew they were safe. I could visit again one day.


	4. Chapter 4 Samuel

**Chapter Four**

** Samuel**

I left Galveston that night, too hurt to stay any longer. I had no interest in exploring the Southern States any more. I just wanted to get away, go somewhere completely different. I decided to head for South America now, I could be there in a day.

I travelled though Mexico, Central America and into Columbia. I had kept away from the main towns so that I didn't have to hide. I could travel easier if I kept off the main routes.

Columbia was pretty much dense forest, which helped and I was able to travel easily, sheltered by the shade from the canopy of the trees above. I took my time now, travelling through Columbia to Venezuela. I wasn't really sure what I was doing, or where I was going. I wasn't really in the mood to take in any scenery, or look for tourist attractions. I just wanted to be left alone, yet I was beginning to regret leaving the company of Steve and Shelly.

I barely noticed then the scent of an approaching vampire. I didn't really care that much. So much for immortality if this was what it would be like. What was the point of it all? I couldn't be with any of those I loved. I was all alone in this wilderness and thus it would always be. Suddenly a voice called out "Hey, you there"

I spun around, instinctively turning on my repulsive skill so that by the time I was facing the large jovial looking character he wasn't able to look at me. He held his hand over his mouth and tried to peer in my direction. He did look comical. He was dressed in an array of clothes that looked like something from a history book. His face was screwed up in disgust. He didn't look dangerous so I relaxed. Maybe this was a mistake, but as I reminded myself, so what?

"Good grief man, what was that?" He asked

"Er sorry," I spluttered. "Reflex reaction I'm afraid. It comes in handy sometimes"

"Disgusting," he wrinkled his nose again. "I couldn't even look at you"

I walked over to him extending my hand in friendship "Fred," I announced, smiling.

"Samuel," he replied as he took my hand and shook it firmly. "Can you turn that on and off then when you want to?"

I nodded. "But instincts take over sometimes," I explained. "Survival techniques I guess. I haven't entirely figured it out yet."

He nodded, seeming to at least pretend to understand. "So Fred, you passing though, or is this your territory?"

Good, at least I hadn't inadvertently stumbled into another vampires patch. He didn't belong here either.

"Just passing through," I told him and then asked ,"you?"

"I never stay very long in one place," he said, looking up to towards the sky as if looking for inspiration for his next destination. "Been around for almost a couple of centuries and been to most places on earth at least twice, except Antarctica," he mused, "Nothing much there but penguins," and then he leaned back and let out a loud raucous laugh.

"Wow, two hundred years." I paused to think about that for a minute. Two hundred years of what? So I added, "By yourself?"

He nodded, "Yeah, mostly. I prefer it that way. Keep myself to myself and then I'm not beholden to anyone."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," I agreed, although I didn't know what he meant at all. I had always been good at amusing myself, but right now, the thought of being alone for two hundred years filled me with dread. Right now I was grateful for the company, albeit temporary, of this giant from the past. He was indeed huge, in height and stature. He was older than me in human years too, mid-thirties I guessed.

"So where you heading?" he asked

I shrugged, "Not sure, I haven't really got a plan yet." My shoulders slumped and I lowered my gaze.

He paused and then put his head on one side and looked at me quizzically "What are you heading from then?"

His question took me aback. It wasn't the kind of question you expected from a complete stranger. I wasn't sure how to answer, how much to tell him, how much he was really interested in knowing, however, I decided I might trade some information with this very old vampire. As I pondered this I noticed his eyes weren't yellow. They were a similar dark red colour to my own. So I guessed he wasn't as old as the vampires in Forks. How old must they be?

I thought it was about time I answered his question as I didn't want to appear rude or evasive, but where to start? "It's a long story," I replied, unconvincingly.

"That's ok, I've got all century," he replied laughing again.

So I began with my creation, told him all about the army of newborns, the chaos, my desertion, the mystery of the yellow-eyed coven, the werewolves, the fear of being found by Riley and his female companion known only to us as _she_ or _her. _I was surprised at how easily the story rolled off my tongue once I got started. Samuel was a good listener, not interrupting once, just listening and nodding and encouraging me to continue.

"Stop me if you have had enough," I had told him at one point.

"No, carry on son. Sounds like you got some questions buried in that there story of yours. Carry on, right to the end, and then I'll help you out, if I can..."

So I finished by telling him about my _visit_ to my family in Texas and the sadness it had left me with. "How do you cope with that?" I shrugged.

"Awww well, I can't help you with that one I'm afraid. All my family have been dead for a couple of centuries. Even when they were still alive I didn't know them. Left home at the age of fourteen to work on the rail-road, and never went back." He patted me on the shoulder. It was intended to comfort me, but he was very heavy-handed and it almost hurt, even though my rock-hard body was designed not to feel pain.

"Come, walk with me for a while. I can help you with some of your other stuff," he said kindly.

Samuel knew of the family that Riley's army had been created to destroy. "Well, actually, I don't know the entire family, I only know the good doctor. I knew him before he had a family. Must be a hundred years ago, maybe more."

"He is a doctor?" I asked. "Do vampires get sick?"

"No, he is a doctor for humans, I believe he currently works in a hospital back in Forks, Washington." Samuel gestured vaguely in the direction of north, "although he has practiced medicine in many places. I hear about him in my travels. I've heard a lot about his family too. He is well known in the vampire world. One of a kind really."

"A doctor for humans?" I repeated in disbelief. "How does that work?" How could a vampire work in a hospital? I tried to picture myself in that situation and decided the patient mortality rate would be rather grim.

"It's true," Samuel nodded. "You see, _Doctor _Carlisle Cullen, and his family too, I guess, do not feed on the blood of humans. They feed only on animals."

"What?" I wrinkled my nose up in disgust and snorted, "Don't be daft" and I shook my head in disbelief. But Samuel was holding up his hands nodding.

"Their belief is that by feeding on animals they are not monsters, and it enables them to live an almost human existence."

I snorted again.

"Don't knock it 'til you've tried it." Samuel chided me.

He waited for me to stop shaking my head before continuing ."I tried it for a while but animals aren't very satisfying." Now he was wrinkling his nose and shaking his head.

"No kidding?" I let out a little chuckle.

"No kidding. Anyway, I am not that determined to be good. I'm a nomad. I don't have any desire to put down roots anywhere." He paused and then looked at me to see my reaction. "Incidentally, that is why their eyes are yellow."

He had my full attention now. He continued ,"Of course that was one of the reasons Carlisle left the Volturi. " Samuel continued. "He didn't like their ethics, and couldn't persuade them to follow his diet."

I was sure this guy was making this stuff up, just to see my reaction. But it was too incredulous to make up. I resisted the urge to laugh because I didn't want to offend him. My face must have been an absolute picture though.

"The Vol….what?"

"Volturi," Samuel confirmed. "An ancient Italian coven that rule the vampire world, sort of like royalty. They make the rules and then punish anyone who doesn't follow them."

"Oh ok," I nodded. I supposed this was the vampire police that Bree had warned me about. But I was more interested in their diet. "So, he completely survives on animals? No humans at all? Is that even possible?"

"As far as I know, none at all. It has taken him centuries of practice to be able to do what he does. Don't ask me how or why, it is just the way he is. It is his _thing._"

"Fascinating," I whispered. "Cool." I pondered for a moment ."I wouldn't mind having a go at that." I had always felt repulsed at killing humans, even when I was first created. I mean, I had to, instincts and all that, but I still felt ill at ease with it, even back then when the bloodlust was so strong. "I hate being what I am," I added.

Samuel just sighed. "You get used to it after a while," and he absent-mindedly kicked a rock into a tree. It hit the tree with such force that the trunk snapped in half. A flock of birds fluttered noisily above us in the canopy, angry at having their resting perch disturbed.

I screwed my face up a little at the thought of feeding from animals. It really didn't seem terribly appealing. And then I thought about the human girl they protected and suddenly it made sense, well, sort of. They didn't kill her because she wasn't part of their regular diet, but I couldn't imagine what kind of self-restraint would be needed to achieve this. I could remember the scent of the girl that Riley had passed around to us, recalling it instantly like it was just yesterday. How could they ignore the sweet smell of her blood, the sound of her heart pumping all that delicious human blood around her body? It would be too much to bear. After all why bother? What was so special about this particular human?

"Two of Carlisle's family were in these parts a few weeks ago actually." Samuel told me, changing the subject quickly before I could dwell on the strange alternative diet of the Cullens.

"Really?" I asked cautiously. "So, they must have survived the fight then?"

"Yeah, suppose so, they never mentioned it," Samuel continued ."A petite dark-haired female, I think her name was Alice, and a blond male companion, covered in battle scars. More scars than I've had human dinners!" He laughed and then paused. He was trying to remember something. "I didn't really pay too much attention to _him_, the girl was much more interesting. She had some kind of special power, like the ability to see into the future or something – she was very anxious about something"

"What were they doing all the way down here?"

"Trying to drum up some support for a child they have in their family. I'm not really sure. They are in trouble with the Volturi or something over it. I didn't get too much of the story, having made my apologies to them, they moved on pretty quick. They were in a real hurry. They were off to the rainforest . I think they were going to seek out the Amazonian coven. As I said, this Alice was extremely anxious."

"A child?" I immediately assumed they had another human addition to their family. Or maybe it wasn't exactly a child, maybe it was connected with the human girl they protected. You could hardly call her a child, but I knew how stories could get twisted sometimes and Samuel was obviously one for telling colourful stories. Maybe this was why they were in trouble with the vampire police. After all, vampires were not allowed to expose themselves to humans and hadn't they done just that, by keeping this human as a _pet_, as Riley had put it?

"Look, I don't really know much about it, I didn't want to get involved. They didn't bother to give me the full story once I made it clear I wasn't going to help them. I don't court any trouble with the Volturi. It wasn't my battle to get involved in. I feel bad, because Carlisle is good, through and through, but if he is in trouble with the Volturi, anyone who sides with him risks death."

"Yeah, that's why I didn't want to get into the fight with Riley. Not my battle." I agreed

"You got that right son," Samuel agreed.

I spent a few days with Samuel in San Fernando, Venezuela. He was such an interesting character it was hard not to keep asking questions. For a newbie like me, he was astonishing to listen to. He told me many stories about the Volturi and how they put a stop to illegal practices. He told me about the armies of newborns that had been created in the Southern States of America round about the time of the civil war. There had been massive fights for control over the towns and the right to feed in them. The Newborn armies had grown so fast and they were out of control. The Volturi had stepped in and put a stop to it. "The Volturi are an effective and powerful force," he had told me. "Many of them are selected for their special powers and skills. These days though, they are corrupt to the core," he had added. "Power had gone to Aro's head." He shook his head sadly.

Samuel, whilst claiming not to know anything about Carlisle's _child_, had a theory about it. I wondered whether this was based on something Carlisle's envoy had actually told him, or whether it was pure speculation. He thought they may be keeping an immortal child. He went on to explain that a while back some vampires had created vampire children, to make their families complete, so to speak. The immortal children had been too young to learn how to behave and had gotten out of control, risking exposure of our kind to the humans. The Volturi had destroyed them all, including their creators and had thereby decreed that the creation of immortal children was illegal. "So, you see why I didn't want to get involved. If Carlisle has been foolish enough...well, I just wasn't keen to travel thousands of miles to face the wrath of the Volturi. It's not my business."

"How do you create an immortal child?" I had asked.

"You simply make a vampire out of a child. But of course, the child never matures. If the child is three years old, it will stay three years old for eternity. You do know how vampires are created?" He asked.

I nodded, "yeah sort of." My memories of it were pretty vague. All I could remember was the horrific pain.

Samuel smiled sympathetically. "So you see the children were _frozen_ at whatever age they happened to be at the time. It's a bit sick."

I admitted the idea of taking the life of one so young was pretty sick. I thought of my little sister Karen and shuddered to think of her remaining eight years old for ever. If indeed, if this was what Carlisle had done then I guessed he had it coming to him. It was inexcusable and I couldn't see what good it was going to do sending two members of his family half way around the world to find allies.


	5. Chapter 5 Thrilling

**Chapter Five**

**Thrilling**

Samuel had been most helpful and I had enjoyed hanging out with him. He was so easy going. It was easy to see how the life of a nomad suited him. He was beholden to no-one, hence his reluctance to participate in whatever mission was being organised on behalf of Dr Cullen. He considered this was the reason he had been around for so long. He kept his nose out of other's business, kept to the law as laid down by the Volturi, and strove not to be a nuisance to anyone. He told me that if I could follow these same simple ethics I would have nothing to worry about. He had wished me well as we decided to go our separate ways.

While he was keeping his nose out of everyone's business, it seemed he wasn't averse to a bit of gossip along the way. Nor, I was sure, did he mind embellishing some of the stories he picked up while minding his own. I still wasn't convinced he hadn't been making some of that stuff up about the Cullens. Still, he had been friendly and harmless enough I decided. No doubt I would run into him again at some point in my immortal life.

I had to admit, I was pretty obsessed with the idea of an animal diet, and I was keen to give it go. I wondered if it wasn't a slight elaboration on the truth. However it suited me to consider it.

Samuel had said he was heading to the Amazonian Rainforest. I failed to see why. What was it about the Amazonian rainforest that seemed to attract vampires? Surely there wouldn't be much of a food supply there? Samuel had mentioned an ancient Amazonian coven so presumably it was possible to survive there. Maybe I would run into them and they could tell me how they survived.

As I didn't have anything else particularly to do, I decided to head for the rainforest too, still a little unsure of the attraction, but maybe that _was _the attraction, the curiosity?

It was, as I suspected, wholly inhospitable. Not that I minded the forest, I was pretty much used to that and forests suited vampires as the shelter provided by the trees hid our unusual sparkling skin. But this vast area was largely uninhabited, which meant I was constantly thirsty, which in turn meant that I was constantly irritable. My doubts about the rainforest had been reinforced. Why would anyone want to visit here, let alone live here? However, the lack of a plentiful supply of humans would make it a good place to try out my animal diet.

Several vampire trails criss-crossed the soggy terrain. I came across Samuel's once or twice, but decided not to follow it as he had not really wanted my company. He hadn't said as much, but I just got the impression he didn't really want a newbie tagging along. He had probably grown tired of my incessant questions.

The only heartbeats I could hear were those of animals. I tried to tell them apart by the scent they gave off. After a bit of practice I could tell the difference between the scent of the carnivores and that of the herbivores. I decided the carnivores would make a better substitute for humans. Their scent was much more appealing. Their slower heavier heartbeat also indicated a larger size, which would be more satisfying.

I sniffed the air one last time before making my decision, just to ascertain I had the right direction and distance in mind. I could hear the heart-beat of my intended prey and I guessed it was some sort of large wild-cat, certainly a large animal, I could tell from its slow steady heart-beat. This was going to be dangerous. I had to get it right. This animal was a killer too. If it was big enough, and I slipped up somehow, it may do me some damage.

I crept stealthily through the undergrowth until I had it in view. It was a cougar, probably only about thirty feet away now. I was momentarily relived it wasn't something on the endangered list. I made a mental note to myself to remember this smell, so that I could distinguish it from others that may be endangered, as so many of the large cats were. I observed the animal for a short while. Its eyes were focused on something in the distance that had caught its interest, but not sufficiently enough for it to move. It was so far unaware of my presence. I leapt into action. A short chase ensued. The cougar was fast, but not fast enough to outrun a vampire and then with one swift movement I had landed on its back and broken its neck, killing it more or less outright. The only sign of a struggle was a small splattering of blood on the sleeve of my shirt.

I was pleasantly surprised. The cougar had been quite palatable. Nowhere near as desirable as the sweet taste of human blood that I had craved so much, but definitely better than I had expected. I was surprised too with how easy it had been once I had allowed my hunting techniques to take over. I was even more surprised at the thrill I had experienced in the chase, the anticipation of the kill. You didn't get that with humans, they were too slow to react. Easy targets, no fun at all. I could see how it might be possible to follow this alternative lifestyle. This had to be the best place in the world to try it. I hadn't encountered a single human presence in the two days I had been here. The cougar had presented a challenge. At the very last moment, its superb senses had detected my presence and it had felt danger. I wasn't used to having to really hunt for my meals. This was an entirely thrilling new concept for me. I noticed also that my energy levels were certainly replenished even if my throat still burned, yearning for a proper meal, however I was somehow satisfied. I would see how long I could survive without human blood.


	6. Chapter 6 The Trail

**Chapter Six**

**The Trail**

I flitted through the forest on my own for a few more days before I discovered an interesting trail. My throat seemed to be permanently on fire. I hunted animals of all different kinds. I tried the herbivore type but they were barely palatable and did little to replenish my energy level. Animals were adequate for sheer existence I supposed but it was humans I craved. But humans were in short supply. I had stumbled across a small tribal village but hadn't wanted to take any of the dozen or so humans that lived there, they would be missed and all the good intentions I had would have been undone. They were a close knit family and I didn't want to cause them grief. It was hard though, very hard to refrain. I wondered if it ever got easier to walk away. Several times I almost went back, and if I hadn't found this particular trail I might have caved in. Now I had something new to focus on, an interesting distraction.

I knew immediately that it was a vampire trail and that there was more than one. I could pick out two individual scents, both of which seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't recognise them as vampires I knew, not that I knew that many. But the familiarity was bugging me. It seemed like it was a scent I had remembered from a long time ago, back in Forks, Washington. It was definitely not Riley though, nor was it any of his army of thugs. Samuel had been pretty convinced that the army would not have survived in any case. He had also said that two of the Cullen coven had been here a few weeks ago but it couldn't have been them. This scent was fresh, only a few hours old, if that.

I decided to follow it for a while, curiosity getting the better of me. It might lead me to something interesting. It might lead me out of this jungle wilderness which I was growing sick of. I turned on my special repulsive skill to protect myself and I listened out with my super senses for any sign of them, but they were not that close. I decided height would give me an advantage so I climbed a tree, scaling the rough bark with ease. Within a few seconds I was about 50 feet above the ground. Once up in the canopy I glanced around. As I jumped to another tree to get a better view I disturbed a family of spider monkeys who chattered and squawked in irritation, making a terrible disturbance. Nice one! So much for stealth I thought to myself.

There was nothing of particular interest to me within the long range my excellent vampire eyesight allowed, nothing but birds and monkeys. I was wasting time so I jumped back down to the ground using the branches of trees, swinging from one to another rather like a monkey myself I thought. It took just five swings before my feet were firmly back on the ground and I began to follow the strangely familiar trail.

After an hour or so I came to an abrupt standstill at the entrance to a manmade clearing. An area the size of a football field had been cleared by loggers. The whole area had been decimated. I didn't pause to think about the destruction of the rainforest for long, because my attention had been drawn to two figures at the opposite end of the clearing. They didn't appear to notice me though, they were not even looking in my direction. They wouldn't be able to as I had increased my repulsive scent to the extent where it was beginning to nauseate even myself. They had their backs to me but I knew who they were.

There was a male and a female, and by the look of them they were the same two that Samuel had described. A tall blond male and a short dark-haired female. Cullens. So they were still in the Amazon forest presumably, still on their errand to find support for their immortal child. What were they doing though? They appeared to be having a discussion. The female, Alice was her name I recalled, was gesticulating frantically and the tall male was looking around in every direction except the direction where I stood, now half-obscured by the trees which sheltered me from full view. I had retreated back a few steps instinctively, not that I really needed to.

Should I approach them? Samuel had spoken highly of the Cullen's generally, aside from their recent indiscretion, of course. Surely they weren't dangerous. There were two of them however, and only one of me, and they were experienced. Samuel had said the Blond male was covered in battle-scars so he was a very experienced fighter I presumed. Several battles under his belt and still alive.

However, they were a coven of high moral standards. They only fed on animals so that they could lead an honest existence, almost human Samuel had said. Curiosity again got the better of me and I called out to them. "Hey!" I waited, nothing happened. Couldn't they hear me? "Hey there!" I called again. "Hey, I mean no harm." They were looking around now but couldn't see me even though I had moved out from the shelter of the trees slightly. I then realised that my scent must be completely overpowering, so much so that they appeared to be looking past me. From where I stood it actually looked like the female was retching. I laughed quietly to myself and turned off the scent, smiling. In the split second it had taken for me to do this they had positioned themselves right in front of me, about ten feet away. I hadn't even seen them move. I noticed they were both extremely well turned-out. It didn't look like they had been in the jungle for days, as I had. Their clothes were not only expensive and tasteful, but clean and fresh-looking.

"Hey, I mean no harm," I repeated, raising my hands up slightly as a gesture of submission I thought. I wasn't experienced enough in vampire protocol to know if this was the correct thing to do. The female was looking at me quizzically with her head on one side, the blond male stared hard at me, his amber-eyes looked cold and harsh and the scars which covered his arms and face seemed very threatening. His arms were folded firmly in front of his chest. I nodded and lowered my head to cut out his glare.

I turned to look at his female companion. She was less scary. It was the easier option. Her short dark spiky hair gave her a pixie-like appearance. She was exceptionally pretty though I thought, and her eyes, the same amber colour as her companion bore no malice.

"Hi, I'm Alice." She said cheerfully. It broke the silence.

I looked up and smiled at her, nodding again.

"Fred," I replied as I reached forward to shake hands.

Alice immediately reached out and took my hand and then she turned to her companion, giving him a nod and a glare. "Jasper!" she hissed. "Manners." And as Jasper reluctantly responded to her prompt, giving my hand a brief but firm shake she looked at me again and said, by way of explanation and apology, "I am sorry about him, he's very over-protective."

"Yes, sorry, er, I'm Jasper," he announced. And then his arms were folded again.

Silence again. I wasn't sure why I had thought this was a good idea. They were harmless, at least, or I would be dead by now, but there was still a touch of tension in the air. It was broken by Jasper this time though.

"Alice, we really should make a move now..." Jasper urged.

Alice looked anxious and stared into an empty space as if trying to see something that wasn't there. Her eyes darted from side to side. She looked concerned and then agreed with her partner. "Yes, there is little time, they are coming." And then she looked at me and nodded, "lovely to meet you but we have got to spilt."

"Wait!" I started, a little amazed at my sudden bravery and outspokenness, not quite sure where it came from.

Alice and Jasper had already disappeared into the dense forest at the other end of the clearing.

"Yes?" the high soprano voice of Alice sang through the trees.

"Sorry," I stuttered. "I don't want to hold you up, but I ..."

"Well, you are welcome to come with us, but try and keep up." Jasper had returned to the edge of the clearing and motioned for me to follow him. I wasn't sure if I wanted to follow him, but what else was there to do? I was half way across the clearing by now anyway so it would have seemed rude to turn away.

I followed them swiftly as we dodged the trees and rocks which made up the vast majority of the forest undergrowth. My mind had gone completely blank. I had so many questions and so little time it seemed, to ask them, that I didn't know where to start.

"Who is coming?" I asked, as if aware of the awkwardness of the silence and maybe hoping that his question might start an exchange.

Alice and Jasper shared a quick exchange and Jasper nodded at his partner.

"The Volturi."

"Oh," was all I could say. I wasn't doing very well at this. I never had been much of a conversationalist, and I could have kicked myself for it right now. So the Volturi were coming here. I had assumed they were going to Forks to punish the coven for their immortal child. Maybe they were hiding the child here?

We were still racing through the undergrowth. Alice seemed on a real mission, desperate to get somewhere very fast, back to wherever they had hidden the child presumably. It occurred to me that I might be better off not knowing the outcome of this journey. If I knew nothing, I wouldn't be forced to tell anyone anything, and yet something compelled me to ask another question "What do they want?" as if I didn't know.

The answer came as a bit of a surprise then. It was Alice who offered the explanation "They want to talk to a vampire called Joham"

"A vampire?" I asked. "Not an immortal child?"

"What do you know of immortal children?" Jasper snapped, appearing a little guarded.

"Um not much really," I stuttered. "Um." and then I hesitated, not sure if my next statement would cause offence. "I encountered a nomad called Samuel a while back, who told me your story. About your immortal child..." I trailed off as I noticed the expressions on their faces.

Jasper looked furious, Alice shook her head. "Samuel should have come to help us instead of spreading malicious rumours. He would have seen for himself then."

It still seemed odd to me that we could hold this meaningful conversation and exchange of knowledge whilst travelling at break-neck speed through trees and dense undergrowth. It was one of those things that vampires got used to after a while. We didn't really need to concentrate on obstacles, our instincts guided us.

"Um, I don't think he meant any harm," I volunteered, ashamed at myself for dropping Samuel in it, and for angering my companions.

Alice shook her head again and muttered, almost under her breath, "well, he should keep his opinions to himself." I wouldn't have heard it if I had been human.

"The Volturi are after a vampire called Joham, a nomad of sorts, but he stays around these parts mostly." Jasper informed me eventually after another lengthy silence. "Have you come across _him_?" he asked.

"No," I replied, and then I felt the need to add, "sorry."

"No matter," Jasper said. "I wasn't really expecting you to. He is notoriously difficult to find. In any case it is not him we are seek, it is his son, Nahuel."

I hadn't heard of him either. My blank expressions needed no further confirmation that I hadn't a clue who Nahuel was, nor why Alice and Jasper would be looking for him.

Alice continued where Jasper had left off. "We have come to warn him, that's all. The Volturi are likely to kill his father. I don't think Nahuel will mind too much about that but he will want to protect his sisters."

"What has his father done then?" I asked. "Joham, was it?" My mind was all over the place.

"Yes, Joham." Jasper seemed to speak the name with more than a little contempt. "He is experimenting with our species, trying to create a new race of vampire human hybrids. The Volturi have recently learned about this and want to speak to him, however Alice has seen a vision of something a little more unpleasant that just _speaking _to him."

I remembered now that Samuel had said Alice had a special skill for seeing into the future. I presumed this is what she had been doing back in the clearing.

Alice made a gesture of a throat being cut and grimaced. "The details are sketchy," she explained. "My visions don't really work terribly well if I don't know the people involved. Of course, I know Aro, he's one of the Volturi elders," she explained, guessing that I wouldn't know who Aro was. "I know what his intentions are, however I don't see what happens to Nahuel's sisters. I cannot see them in my visions."

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "Must be really cool to see the future."

Alice seemed very pleased with herself. "It comes in handy," she admitted. "But, it has its limitations. I don't see everything and that can be very frustrating."

"This trail we are following?" I asked, vaguely aware that we appeared to be following a trail now. I could pick up three vampire scents criss-crossing from side to side, but it was not consistent. Sometimes it veered off to the right or the left, or at least one of them did. "Do you know who it belongs to?"

"Sure," Alice replied with confidence. "It's the Amazonian coven. I would recognise it anywhere having spent some time in their company very recently. We also spent a good while trying to find them not so long ago, so it is easy for us to recognise their scent."

"Are they friendly?" I asked, hesitantly.

Alice smiled, "Why yes." She seemed to chuckle at my question, and then, by way of explanation she offered, "Most vampires are. However, as a newbie you do need to be cautious. Not only are you relatively unknown, but you pose a little bit more of a threat. Most newborns are unpredictable and older vampires are naturally wary, that's all. It's defensive, you see."

I was disappointed that they had so easily detected that I hadn't been around for long.

"If you stick with us for the moment, until we find the Amazons, you will be fine," Jasper added.

"You are looking for the Amazons?" I asked. I recalled Samuel mentioning an Amazonian coven.

"Yes, hopefully they will know where Nahuel is," Alice replied.

I had put off asking any more meaningful questions, Alice and Jasper had volunteered so much information already so surely they wouldn't mind answering one of my more burning questions. "This child that Samuel told me about?" I hadn't really asked a question, it was more of a statement really but Alice seemed to pick up the need for more information.

"Renesmee?" She offered.

"I don't know. Samuel didn't tell me its name. All he said was that he thought you were in trouble for creating a child. He said..."

"What did he say?" Jasper snapped, obviously annoyed that someone was spreading stories.

"He said he had a theory, only a theory." I didn't want to land Samuel in any further trouble, so I made sure Jasper knew it was only a theory ,"Um, that you had created an immortal child."

"Is that what he is telling everyone? I Thought as much." Jasper hissed .

I was silent for a while, afraid of angering Jasper, suddenly more aware than ever of the scars that criss-crossed his arms, his neck, his face even.

We came to an abrupt halt. Jasper glanced at Alice, who appeared to be having another one of her premonitions. They seemed to have a brief exchange of unspoken understanding. Alice shook her head and said "No problem, false alarm. They haven't arrived yet. They have just changed their minds about who to send. Felix has returned to Volterra. Surplus to requirements apparently."

"Come on," Jasper encouraged. "I think we are nearly there, the scent is getting stronger."

We set off again in silence. The trail left by the three vampires was indeed getting stronger. I wondered what the Amazonians would be like. How would they receive me? I was still obviously classed as a newborn, even though I was getting on for a couple of years old now. I hadn't told Alice, but she had guessed it right away. I wonder how long you had to be a vampire before you lost your newborn look. Maybe it wasn't a look, more of a presence. Maybe it was just because I asked so many questions?

I still hadn't received a proper answer to my question and I was a little annoyed. Did I dare risk asking again? Would they think I was incredibly nosey? Jasper had inferred that the child was not an immortal, that Samuel had been making assumptions. However neither of them had specifically denied it either. In fact, they were both acting very defensively about the whole situation, offering me no other alternative explanation. So what was she then if not an immortal? I presumed it was a _she_. It was a strange name, one I hadn't heard of before and one which I was now finding it impossible to recall, but it was definitely female. I decided to try a different approach. "So, the Volturi excused _you_ then?" I ventured.

"Yes, eventually." Alice confirmed, "Although it was extremely close. If it hadn't been for Nahuel arriving when he did I think it may have gone horribly wrong." She shuddered and looked anxious. "That's why we feel we owe it to him to warn him now. I saw a vision of the Volturi coming here and I just wanted to make sure he had the opportunity to try and warn his sisters."

I wasn't really getting anywhere with this. Was Alice being deliberately evasive, or was she so preoccupied with her visions that it didn't occur to her that I didn't have the faintest idea what she was talking about.

However, I wasn't about to give up. "I'm sorry Alice, I don't mean to seem nosey, but I don't understand. What has this Nahuel got to do with your situation?"

"I'll explain it all later," she promised, smiling."All will be revealed. But now, we have arrived!" Her smile broadened and she gestured with her right arm almost fully extended ,"Voila!"

Sure enough, just to the left of a small clearing, stood three vampires. Three tall, athletic-looking dark skinned females.

"You can turn that off now Fred," Jasper told me, with a wry grin on his face. "These are friends of ours and you are making them sick."

"Sorry," I muttered, and obeyed. I wasn't really aware I was doing it. I hadn't been aware up to now either that Jasper had figured it out.

"That's better." One of the dark females spoke now, looking at me curiously. "That's quite a potent skill you have there."

"Sorry," I repeated. "I haven't fully learned to control it yet."

"I am Zafrina," the same one spoke again, "and this is Senna and Kachiri." She motioned towards the other two who each nodded in turn, smiling. What were their names again? I had forgotten already, but I smiled and nodded at them anyway, hoping I wouldn't be asked to recall their names. I had taken in so much information and so many new names in the last couple of hours that it was impossible for me to remember it all. Names were just a detail.

"Fred," I replied, smiling.

One of the others spoke now. "Alice, Jasper. How lovely to see you again. What brings you here?"

"We have come to warn Nahuel." Jasper explained. "Do you remember that Aro said he wanted to have word with his father?"

The three vampires nodded.

"Well, they are coming here, the Volturi. Alice has seen it. It isn't going to be a pleasant chat."

"Do you know where we can find him?" Alice asked quickly, still anxiously anxious not to waste any time.

"Yeah, sure, we visited him down south just last week, near Rio," the one called Zafrina offered. "We can take you there, we know our way around a bit better than you."

"OK thanks," Alice chirped. She turned to me. "Wanna come?"

"Er yes, thanks," I mumbled. I might as well. "If you don't mind?"

"Fine, then let's get going," she urged, gesturing in a southerly direction.

So we set off in pursuit of yet another vampire I didn't know, another mystery. Complicated lives these immortals led, and to think that I had once thought it was boring.

Zafrina sidled up to me after a short while. "So what brings you here with the Cullens?" The other two Amazons had gone on ahead to lead the way.

"Oh, I'm not really with them, I just encountered them while I was stumbling around on my own," I shrugged. "I didn't have anything better to do."

She smiled at me and said, "How long have you been a vampire?"

"Coming up for two years I guess," I told her. I thought then that maybe if I started to tell my side of the story it might prompt Alice to continue where she left off. She had promised me an answer, after all so I spoke very clearly so to be sure she would hear, not that I doubted her hearing was any less sharp than my own. "Actually, it is a bit of a coincidence, because I come from the same part of the US as the Cullens."

It worked. Alice chipped in,"Really?"

"Yes," I told her. "Actually, I am ashamed to say it but I was one of the newborns who was created specifically to destroy you."

"Oh," She said thoughtfully. "Well, don't feel bad about it, we're still here," and she let out a shrill little laugh.

"I didn't fight with the rest of them," I added. "I left that morning, before the others went off to fight with you. As soon as I realised..."

She looked at me and nodded as if something had fallen into place. "Ah, so you were the one? The deserter?"

"Er, yes," I replied. "Who told you there was a deserter?"

She didn't answer. She simply told me, "You made the right choice. They all died," and flashed one of her brilliant smiles at me.

"All of them?" I asked. I had actually been dying to know what happened that day. I knew there were about twenty of us, and only seven of them so it hadn't seemed like a fair fight. However Riley had warned us that we would be up against experienced fighters with special skills.

"Yes, all of them," she confirmed, proudly.

"Even Riley?" Not that I expected her to know who Riley was, but she seemed to, because she nodded.

"Yes, even Riley, and Victoria," she told me.

"Victoria?" I asked, not sure who Victoria was, but I had a fairly good idea.

"Yes, your creator." She had confirmed my suspicion. "Didn't you even know her name?"

"Er no. Riley didn't want us to know too much, he said we were better off not knowing."

"Well," Alice paused for a while "Actually, it was better for him if you didn't know, and her. It was to avoid me being able to know what was going on. They knew about me and my psychic abilities and knew that I was focusing on Victoria, that I would know if any decisions were made, that I would be able to pick up on any mention of her name, any conscious thoughts about her. That is why she kept her distance from you. I knew she was creating newborns, but I was unable to monitor your thoughts because there was no connection between you. Understand?"

"Riley lied to us about a lot of things," I muttered. "We were kept in the dark about everything."

"I'm sure. Not the best start for you. Anyway, they are all dead now so no need to fear them."

"So did Victoria get killed in the fight?" I hadn't thought she would actually take part herself. Why would she? Hadn't she created us to do the fighting for her? Unless she had joined in at the very last minute, but it seemed unlikely.

"No, she took off with Riley, they went after Bella. We had her hidden in the mountains."

"Bella? The human?" I guessed.

"Yes, Bella _was_ human, and we had hidden her in the mountains with my brother Edward. We had intended to keep her well away from the fight, much to her annoyance. But there had been a complication which had led Edward back near the battlefield that morning, so they were able to pick up his scent. They followed him up there. They knew Edward would be protecting her"

"So how did she get killed then?" I asked

"Edward killed both of them, Riley and Victoria," Alice replied with her dancing soprano voice, so matter-of-fact, making it sound like it was of little consequence , something that happened every day. "Well, with a little help from the... wolves," she added, but she seemed to struggle to get the last word of the sentence out of her mouth. She screwed her nose up distastefully as if she were remembering some foul smell.

"The _wolves_?" I asked, disbelieving what I was hearing.

"Er yes, they kind of helped us a lot," Jasper interjected. Helping Alice out as she seemed to be having trouble continuing at the moment. The look on his face though was a picture of distaste. He was obviously grateful for their help, but it seemed like he wasn't too comfortable with their alliance either.

I remembered the conversation with Steve and Shelly, how they had said that the werewolf was a natural enemy of the vampire. I was piecing things together slowly, but it still didn't make much sense.

"But werewolves and vampires are enemies?" I spluttered out, aware that I was probably beginning to irritate Alice with all my questions.

"Yes, they are, normally..." Alice replied. "But these are not true werewolves, merely shape-shifters, and yes, whilst we still remain enemies, they are, how shall I put it...well, we have a kind of truce with them. Besides, we had a common _friend_ to protect."

"The human girl," I stated. It was not a question, nor did I need an answer.

"Yes," was all that Jasper offered.

A long silence ensued, broken by a question from one of the Amazons, whose name I couldn't recall. "How is Bella? And Renesmee?"

_Renesmee_. That name I recognised. This was the child in question, the reason for all the fuss with the Volturi. I still hadn't gotten an answer to that particular line of questioning but maybe all would now be revealed.

"Oh they are fine, and send their regards. Renesmee never stops talking about you Zafrina," Alice chirped. "She wants you to visit again soon. She wants to see more of your pretty pictures."

Now I was completely lost. Pretty pictures? What was Alice talking about?


	7. Chapter 7 The Kill

**Chapter Seven**

** The Kill**

Alice suddenly tensed and stared into an empty space, her bright amber eyes darting from left to right. She was having another premonition. Jasper looked anxiously at her for an explanation. It occurred to me then that he obviously wasn't the mind-reader in their family or she wouldn't have needed to explain. "Aro and Chelsea have also returned to Volterra." She nodded in satisfaction. "That's good. The envoy is getting smaller."

It seemed that just as I was about to unravel the entire mystery, Alice leapt into action, leaving me frustrated. I told myself it wasn't deliberate, she wasn't aware of me, or my frustration, she was just wholly focused on saving her latest Volturi victim. I quite liked her anyway, she seemed like she would be good fun to be with on a less serious occasion, but I still had unanswered questions and I now needed the whole story. I was warming to Jasper too, in a strange kind of way. There was something very mysterious about him. He appeared to be a man of few words, but he seemed to be very conscious of others in a way I couldn't quite pinpoint. There was definitely something about him.

The trail we followed had become more of a road, a dirt track, probably as a result of some of the de-forestation that we had witnessed as we travelled through the Amazon. There was certainly evidence of man-made clearings and debris left behind by careless humans. With all the excitement of meeting Alice and Jasper, and then the graceful Amazons I had completely forgotten about my thirst, which now raged like a furnace in my throat.

Or was it the smell of humans that had triggered it? I was certainly aware of it now. The unmistakeable sweet scent of human blood, fresh venom was flowing freely in my mouth, completely over-riding any other thought processes. Resistance was futile, or was it? I reminded myself of the company I was now in. I wasn't sure of the Amazons, but Alice and Jasper did not feed on humans. This was going to be tricky.

The Amazons stopped dead in their tracks. One of them turned to Alice "Do you mind? We haven't hunted for days."

Alice nodded. "As long as you are quick. We can't hang around for too long now."

The Amazons veered off the dirt-track, down the rocky terrain to where a fresh clearing had been made in the forest. I could see three terrified humans backing away towards one of the huge trucks that had been driven there to remove the logs.

"Aren't you going to...?" Alice asked me, without really looking into the clearing. She was looking away. If she had been looking at the clearing, or indeed, paying any attention to it she would have noticed there were only three humans, and three vampires had already dispensed with them.

"Er, no, I'm ok, thanks."

"You don't look ok," Jasper said. Neither did he, I noticed. He looked uncomfortable. We both stood at the edge of the clearing looking down at the massacre that was unfolding in front of us. Alice had moved on further down the track with her back to us.

"Quick, we can dispose of the bodies in the swamp behind the truck," I heard one of the Amazons say.

"Food for the Cayman," the one called Zafrina agreed, and the limp bodies were all removed as swiftly as the kill had been made.

I caught up with Alice who was waiting for the rest of us to join her on the dirt track. Her face looked worried and a little sad. Jasper remained motionless at the edge of the clearing. I couldn't figure out what he was thinking, his face was blank now.

"Are you ok, Alice?" I asked. "I know you don't feed this way...I so wanted to...does it offend you?"

She looked distracted ."Er no. Don't worry, I'm ok with it."

There was a pause and then she looked anxiously at Jasper who was just about visible through the sparsely scattered remaining trees. "I worry about Jasper," she said, almost in a whisper. "He struggles a little with our diet sometimes."

"Oh," I said. Now I understood the look on his face. It was the longing for something forbidden, concentration and will-power.

"Does it not ever go away?" I asked her. "The longing for human blood, I mean. I have been trying."

She looked surprised not only by my question, but by my obvious intentions to refrain.

"Not entirely," she looked a little sad and then continued, "When I am with the rest of my family, it is easier. It is a way of life that we have grown used to, and the thought of upsetting Carlisle and Esme after all they have done for us, well it doesn't bear thinking about. Poor Jasper struggles more than the rest of us though."

"Will you help me?" I asked her ."I am struggling too. I really wanted to dive right in there and had there been a spare human, I probably wouldn't have been able to stop myself."

"Yes, of course," Alice replied, smiling. "But it takes years...years of practice and you have to be dedicated to it. You have to really want to."

"I do," I told her.

The three females returned to us quickly."Don't worry," Zafrina told me, obviously feeling a little guilty about not offering me a human sacrifice. "There will be plenty more. It is our way of controlling the deforestation," she explained with a wry grin on her face. "Of course, they keep sending more, but it at least slows the process. It will be a week or so before this lot are missed."

I had to smile to myself at the noble gesture to the protection of the planet that was being upheld here. Whilst the vampires would no doubt be seen as monsters by the human world, killing humans to sustain their existence, there were a few green crusaders who would probably condone the killings if it slowed down the decimation of the planet's natural resources.

"Fred's ok, aren't you Fred?" Alice declared cheerily. "He's trying _our_ way."

All three of them raised their eyebrows in Unison and grinned. "Good luck with that," one of them said.

While we were waiting for Jasper to catch up I decided it was a good time to ask ,"How do you do it Alice? How do you live with a human?"

She smiled sweetly and began.

"You see Fred, it is simply a question of love," she looked at me with such passion in her amber eyes, such intensity. "I love Bella, we all do. She is our sister, well, like a sister. When Edward first brought her into our lives it was clear that he would literally die for her. He almost did actually, but that's another long story. I would never do anything to hurt my brother and so we just accepted Bella as part of the family. It was fraught with danger, of course. There were times when I had to restrain Jasper." She paused as if she was trying to remember some of those times and her expression darkened.

"And then, of course there was the episode with James." She shuddered visibly

I looked at her quizzically.

"James was Victoria's mate." She explained. "A chance meeting with them started it all off really, the whole drama with the Volturi. James was a tracker. He wanted Bella badly, so bad he tracked us half way across America to Phoenix. My brothers killed him, of course. But Bella ended up in hospital with a broken body and Victoria wanted her revenge. That was where you came in."

"Victoria's revenge?" I asked sheepishly.

"Yes," she replied and then glanced around at Jasper who had now caught up with us. "I was just explaining to Fred how we lived with Bella when she was human."

Jasper appeared to snort. "Hmmmm." He raised his eyebrows and commented, "It's a lot easier now."

"So Bella's not human now?" I asked.

"No, Edward changed her right after she gave birth to Renesmee," Alice confirmed.

"So Bella gave birth to a vampire child?"

"No, not exactly, Renesmee is half-human, half-vampire actually. The experience nearly killed her. Renesmee was too strong for her. She literally broke her body, from the inside out. She would certainly have died as a mortal, so Edward changed her into one of us, which was what Bella had wanted anyway. The venom healed her body." Alice reflected again on something dark and terrifying. Her pretty features became almost contorted with the pain of the memory of it. "Of course, the Volturi thought we had created an immortal child. They were tipped off by someone we had considered a friend, but we don't dwell on that, it wasn't entirely her fault."

"No, she wasn't aware of the facts," Jasper added. "That is why I was so annoyed about the nomad Samuel spreading stories, without the facts. It's dangerous."

"Ok, I understand that now," I told them.

"So," Alice continued, "The Volturi sent their entire army, including the elders, to investigate."

"Hmm yes," Alice continued ."It was more of a massacre they had in mind really. But jasper and I had been here drumming up support, witnesses to our claim that Renesmee was not an immortal child. Do you understand what I mean by immortal child?"

I nodded, "Samuel told me."

"Yeah, that figures," Jasper grumbled.

"So, anyway, while Jasper and I were here, drumming up support, we wanted to investigate rumours that there were more of these hybrids in existence, only in South America. The Volturi had no knowledge of them and so it was a huge relief when we uncovered Nahuel and managed to persuade him to come with us. We got there just in the nick of time. Aro was about to pass sentence on the whole family, and those that stood with us too probably"

"Can they do that?" I asked with a gasp of horror, "I mean, just wipe out a whole family?"

"Oh yes," Alice replied, "They can do anything. Aro, Caius and Marcus have been assembling a coven of warriors for centuries. They have amassed a formidable army, each one of them possessing special skills. And if you tried to run away, they have one called Demetri who is probably the best tracker in the vampire world, you wouldn't get very far."

"Oh, that was going to be my next question. I was wondering why you couldn't hide out somewhere," I admitted. "When I first encountered you here I assumed you were in hiding, that you had hidden the child here or something."

"There wouldn't be any point. They would find you," Jasper said. "No problem."

The Amazonians were leading the way again now. They hadn't been interested in hearing Alice's story so I presumed they knew it already.

Alice turned to Jasper, "Are you ok now my brave warrior?" She took hold of his hand.

"Yes, I'm ok now. It took me by surprise. How I felt back there. It was difficult," he sighed.

"So are you two a couple then?" I asked.

"Yes," Jasper replied with a hint of a smile on his face, and then he turned to Alice and for the first time I saw real warmth and compassion flood through his normally harsh features. He loved her, there was no doubt about that.

"Our family is made up of four couples," Alice volunteered. "There is Carlisle, our founder and leader, and his wife Esme. In the human world we interact with, people believe they are our adopted parents."

She paused to look at me, smiling. I nodded ,"Go on. I'm fascinated by your lifestyle. I know I'm a pain but I want to know it all."

"OK, just as long as I am not boring you?"

I assured her she wasn't.

"And there is Jasper and myself," Alice continued, "Edward and Bella, our newest addition, who also now have Renesmee, and also Emmett and Rosalie. That is our family." She said this with such pride it was not difficult to see bond that existed between them all. "We all live in a big house near Forks and pretend to be brothers and sisters, adopted children of Dr Carlisle Cullen. You should come and visit us," she added cheerfully.

I would. I definitely would.


	8. Chapter 8 Departures

**Chapter Eight**

** Departures and Promises**

So I had finally managed to monopolise Alice's attention for long enough to get the full picture, well enough of it to satisfy my curiosity anyway. And, furthermore, I had an invitation to visit them, which I felt sure I would take up pretty soon. I still ached for my own family and was encouraged that maybe it was possible to have a family life, even as a vampire. It was possible to love, and to have strong values. I didn't have to be a frightful monster.

The Amazonians gestured that we were getting close.

"Good, about time," Alice said. "Yes, I can see it now, they are alone, good."

"Will you join us?" Jasper asked me.

"Sure, why not, if you don't mind," I replied. "I have come this far."

I guessed we must be near to Rio by now. I could see distant city lights flickering in the basin below us as we skirted the edge of the forest. Wasn't that the coast I could pick out beyond the city? I could see the moonlight reflecting off the ocean.

One of the Amazonians now spoke out in Spanish or Portuguese, I wasn't sure which. I hadn't studied languages for long in school, being more interested in science. I picked out the name Nahuel from the salutation.

Two figures, one male and one female stepped into our path in the distance. The way they had appeared from nowhere, and the grace with which they now moved towards us was unmistakeably that of a vampire, however, there was a human heartbeat drumming a solitary thud, thud, thud from the same direction. Yet Nahuel was a grown man, an adult. I had pictured him a child somehow. I knew at once then that he too was half-human and half-vampire.

"This is Nahuel and his aunt Hulien," Alice announced to me, and then turning to the vampire and the half-vampire she introduced me to them, "This is Fred, a friend of ours."

We stepped forward to greet each other.

Zafrina looked at her two companions and exchanged some meaningful glances. "Do you mind if we head back now?" she asked.

"No, not at all," Jasper replied, "and thank you for your help."

"It was lovely to see you again," one of the others said smiling.

"See you again soon," the third one added.

And then they vanished into the forest with one swift movement, as if they were somehow joined together.

"I don't think they wanted to risk another confrontation with the Volturi," Jasper whispered to me seeing that I was a bit surprised by their sudden disappearance.

"The Volturi?" Hulien asked, obviously hearing Jasper's comment ."And there I was thinking this was the social visit you promised."

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Jasper sighed.

"Are they coming for my father?" Nahuel asked.

Jasper nodded. Alice looked apologetic.

"When?" Nahuel looked unconcerned about his father's safety.

Alice was trying to concentrate. "Not long, a day, maybe two. It is hard to tell. This jungle looks the same all over."

"Do you know where your father and your sisters are?" Jasper asked him.

"Vaguely," Nahuel replied.

"Look," Jasper urged. "We would love to stay and chat with you, but you should make speed and find them. Alice can't see their future. The Volturi are ruthless. We think they will kill your father, but if you can steal your sisters away from him you might just be able to save them. Demetri, the tracker isn't with them. It is just Jane, Alec, and a couple of the guards. If your sisters are not with your father when they get to him, they may not bother to look for them."

"Not Aro?" Hulien asked.

"No, not this time. He was coming but he changed his mind. I don't think they are expecting any trouble. Jane will have been given her orders."

"Thanks for this," Nahuel said and he shook hands with Jasper. "We will try and warn them. Aro promised he wouldn't hurt my sisters, but I guess he doesn't always play by the rules."

"No, not exactly," Jasper agreed.

"Come again soon," Hulien pleaded, "please, for a proper visit. All of you."

"We will, and you know you are welcome to visit us anytime," Jasper replied.

"Yes, thanks. But it is _your_ turn," Hulien teased.

And they too disappeared as quickly as the Amazons had.

"So what are you going to do now?" Alice asked me cheerily.

"Not sure," I replied. "Back to kicking my heels I guess."

"Well, remember what I said, it would be fun if you joined us, and we can give you some help with that diet of yours," Alice smiled. "It will work," she announced, "I have a way of knowing these things."

Jasper raised his eyebrows and grinned, "Yeah, sure, come and join us and I can tell you all about my struggles. I could do with having someone around who can sympathise with me."

"Are you heading back now?" I asked.

"Yeah. We want to get back to the family. Our work is done here." Alice sighed. "I don't want to be away from Renesmee too long or she will have grown another foot!"

"Another foot?" I asked.

Alice laughed at my obvious misunderstanding. "In height I mean. She has a much advanced growth rate over a human. She is only four months old but is the size of a four year old child already, and has the mental capacity of one even older."

"Shall we catch a flight from Rio then?" Jasper asked her.

"Yeah, I don't really want to go back the way we came, just look at my clothes. Ugh!"

Alice looked down and pulled a disgusted face at the mud and green slime that was caked on to the bottom of her trousers. "As much as I would love to see more of Hulien and her nephew, and the Amazons come to that, I really don't think I could bear to spend very long here. Ugh," she said again.

Jasper laughed at her. "We can pick up some new clothes at the airport," he suggested, trying to appease her. It was clear that fashion meant a lot to Alice.

"You are going to catch a plane?" I asked. "A regular plane, with humans?"

"Yes, of course!" Alice replied. She didn't add "Why not?" but she might as well have. It seemed perfectly natural to her.

I guess it made sense, if you were a Cullen. These sophisticated vampires that played at being human had it all figured out. This idealistic lifestyle could work. They were proof that it worked. I just needed to muster a lot of self-control, but I was determined to try. If the prize at the end of the pain and suffering was to have family and friendship then it had to be worth a try.

At least Bella was no longer human so a visit to Forks would not be quite so much of a challenge. Renesmee was only half human, and a child, so I would not be able to harm her, I was sure of that. It would be like hurting my sister. I knew I was strong enough to never hurt a child. Victoria was dead, and Riley, so I had no longer to fear them. The wolves were in alliance with the Cullens and therefore would not be a problem either I presumed. So yes, it was an excellent idea. I would make my way back up north to Washington. I could be there in a couple of days, but I would take a bit longer. I didn't want to become a nuisance to them. They should have a few days back at home with their family before welcoming a stranger into their life. I hoped the others would be as hospitable.

Alice beamed, "So, we will see you in Forks then."

I nodded, smiling ,"promise."

"Oh it wasn't a question, I already know the answer, I have seen it. You will be very welcome and you'll love it." She hesitated slightly as if recalling her vision and then added, "Oh, and don't worry about the wolves, I'll let them know when you are coming. They won't bother you." She looked enormously pleased with herself calling over her shoulder, "Come soon!" as she flitted off toward the city dragging Jasper along before he had the chance to say goodbye properly. He just held his hand up and waved backwards to me. He wasn't so scary after all.


	9. Chapter 9 The Cullens

**Chapter Nine**

** The Cullens**

I could have kicked myself after Alice and Jasper had disappeared into the darkness. I hadn't asked specifically about Bree. There had been so many other questions, the answers to which were all buzzing around in my head. They had been quite definite that all the newborns were dead, but what if Bree had never made it to the battlefield? What if she had found Diego before the fight started? I berated myself for not asking. I would make a point of asking if they knew anything about her when I reached Forks. I was sure she would have been pretty distinctive on the battlefield if one of them had come across her, being so young and childlike, compared to the rest. I'd better not show too much concern though or they wouldn't want to be honest about killing her. I just wanted to know for sure what had happened to her.

What was a reasonable time to allow before making my visit? Two weeks? Would that be too soon? I had to admit, I was pretty obsessed with their life. It was like a drug to me. I needed to know more. I needed to meet them all. This visit to Forks was way more exciting than anything else I could remember. They had a way of life that I wanted to experience, to be a part of. Sure it meant making sacrifices. I would have to behave myself. But it would be worth it.

I pictured Alice and Jasper on their flight, surrounded by unsuspecting humans, Alice, self-satisfied that her mission had been a success. I imagined most things she did were a resounding success. I supposed that having her foresight helped a lot with that. I expect she was chattering away about the journey, maybe even about me, or was I being foolish to think they wouldn't have forgotten all about me already. What was I to them, after all? Just a pesky newbie that had too many questions. Jasper would be quiet and thoughtful, his arms folded, his head back, pretending to sleep.

With a heavy sigh I turned back and began to head north. I could take a route which would hopefully avoid the thickest part of the rainforest. I had seen enough jungle in the last few days to last me a lifetime, and not only that, but I didn't want to run into the Volturi.

I arrived in Forks almost three weeks later. I had been delayed because I had decided to pay Shelly and Steve a visit to tell them all about my travels and it seemed rude not to stay for a few days. They had found another basement to live in, no-where near as nice as the one we had left, but adequate enough for their meagre existence. They lived a simple and quiet life, very conscious of not drawing attention to themselves.

They were fascinated with what I had to tell them and I was glad of the excuse to linger a little longer before I showed up at the Cullens. They were relieved to hear of Riley and Victoria's departure, but they hadn't heard from Bree or Diego either. As the time passed I got more and more nervous about my forthcoming visit. I had slipped up too, on my journey, and had killed a couple of humans. I wasn't sure whether to tell them. At least, I hoped I would be forgiven. I couldn't persuade Steve and Shelly to try the animal diet. They wouldn't even consider it. It was hard being around traditional vampires again. It made the blood-lust stronger. When they went off to hunt humans I had to make my excuses and find some forest animals. My willpower was really being put to the test. The fire raged constantly in my throat. I had to keep reminding myself where my next port of call was. When it got too unbearable I decided it was time to leave, before I caved in to my thirst. Steve and Shelly were dumfounded. They couldn't see why I was bothering.

I stopped off in Seattle on the way to acquire myself some new clothes. I remembered how smartly dressed Alice and Jasper had been and I wanted to create the right impression. I wasn't brave enough to walk into the store in the daytime and purchase them. I didn't trust myself with that many humans around, not having hunted any decent prey for a couple of weeks. So under the cover of darkness, I visited one of the more expensive stores and found exactly what I was looking for. A pale blue polo shirt, smart beige casual trousers and a tan leather jacket, all designer label, of course. I stopped off at a shoe shop just down the road for some new shoes to complete the outfit.

As I got nearer to Forks, my apprehension increased. I didn't know if I was more worried about meeting the family, or being torn apart by werewolves. Alice had promised she would warn the wolves I was coming, and I presumed she would _know_ I was almost there. She would be able to see that. I smiled as I wondered if she had seen my little shopping excursion. She would probably approve of that. As I was imagining her face watching my every movement in one of her premonitions, a shiny black AMG Mercedes did a one-eighty degree turn in the road and then screeched to a halt beside me, making me jump feet. It was a good job it was dark and there weren't any humans around or I would have given myself away. Humans simply couldn't have moved at that speed, nor indeed jumped that distance. As I crouched in the undergrowth by the side of the road I noticed the driver's window being lowered.

"Hiya!" Alice called out from the driver's seat. The window was right down now but she was staring straight ahead at the windshield with her hand over her mouth. "Thought you might like a ride, but if you wouldn't mind toning that down a bit first so we can look at you it would help," she spluttered out through her hand.

I turned off the repulsion and walked towards the car slowly and purposefully as a human would, just in case there were any around. She turned to look at me now, nodding in approval, her brilliant smile instantly putting me at ease. I couldn't see inside the car, the windows were too dark, but as I got nearer the open window I could just make out Jasper sat beside her in the passenger seat.

"Hi!" I smiled back at her. "Sorry about that, you startled me. You saw me coming then?"

"Yep. And luckily I spotted you by the side of the road before you started to make me feel sick. Nice clothes," she said as she looked me up and down, laughing.

"Nice car!" I replied.

"Oh, this is Carlisle's car. I prefer my Porsche, but this one has more room."

"We thought you might be worried about the wolves," Jasper spoke now ,"So we came to give you safe passage."

The back door of the car was opening now and a tall vampire emerged gracefully. He had auburn hair and a sort of crooked smile. His amber eyes were the same colour as the others but they were deep and soulful, full of passion. He was holding his hand out to me so I shook it. "Hello, I'm Edward," he said, "Pleased to meet you."

His voice was as sincere as his handshake had been. "Fred," I replied, "Nice to meet you too." Three down, five to go I thought to myself, well five and a half if I counted the child. All seemed ok so far. I hoped I got as good a reception back at the house. I was actually quite scared now. It was too late to turn back though. I was committed.

Edward grinned as if he had been able to read my thoughts. "We are all looking forward to your visit. You needn't worry. Rosalie can be a bit prickly, but she is with everyone so don't take any notice. Just tell her how beautiful she looks and you will win her friendship."

Jasper seemed to find this amusing.

Then it dawned on me. "Edward. You must be the mind-reader, right?"

He nodded and grinned at me. "Shall we?" and he gestured towards the car.

Once seated in the back of the car Edward spoke again. "We thought you might feel more comfortable if I came with Alice and Jasper to meet you. It would be less daunting for you later. One more down?"

"Thank you," I replied, trying hard not to think of anything else. Actually I was concentrating on the trees as we flew past them at over a hundred miles an hour, trying to count them, and then trying to remember the different varieties I had seen in the Amazon, the different scents, the birds, the animals, anything but the reality of what awaited for me in what I could guess would be just a few minutes away.

Edward just sat there grinning. I could tell he knew what I was doing and it amused him. "This lot do it to me all the time," he mused.

"What's that?" Jasper asked.

"Block me from your thoughts, or at least try to," Edward replied.

"Oh yeah, it's annoying. Nothing is private," Jasper grinned. "You get used to it."

"Jasper has learned to recite the Constitution in seventeen different languages," Edward chuckled.

"Well, at least we don't have to be rude to your face," Alice chirped in. "You know when we are mad at you."

"Hmmm," was all that Edward needed to say to confirm it. "Anyway," he continued ,"You have your own defence mechanism. It seems fairly potent. I doubt I would have a strong enough stomach to break through that one."

That made me feel a little better. If I really needed to block him out I might just be able to.

Edward looked at me, gave me his crooked smiled and raised his eyebrows. "We can give that a try later if you like?"

I returned the smile. Yes, that would be interesting. A battle of the powers. It would give me the chance to learn to control it, so that I could use it more effectively.

We turned off the main road now onto a narrow winding driveway. Alice didn't slow down. It was as if the car steered itself through the overhanging trees. A few more turns and we were pulling up outside an enormous white imposing looking building. On the doorstep was an even more imposing looking sight, a welcoming party of five vampires, but they were all smiling.

I hesitated but Edward urged, "Come on, let's get the introductions over with."

As we emerged from the car, the blond haired vampire at the middle of the group stepped forward, smiling as he walked slowly down the steps to greet us, his hand outstretched. "Welcome to our home," he said warmly. "I'm Carlisle, and this is my family. This is my wife, Esme." And with this, one of the females, who had possibly the warmest smile I had ever seen, stepped forward to greet me. "Pleased to meet you. You are most welcome here," she said in a beautifully soft, warm voice.

I was then introduced to the others. Emmett, tall dark and muscular but with a wicked grin like he was up to no good. His wife, Rosalie, stunningly beautiful, with long golden hair down to her waist. She didn't seem quite so genuinely friendly. It was like she was forcing herself to smile.

Then Edward appeared at the top of the steps, took the remaining female by the hand and led her forward to me. "This is my wife, Bella," he said this with such pride and passion in his voice I could tell instantly how much he loved her.

She was quietly stunning. Not in the obvious way that Rosalie was. It was more subtle and more mysterious. Her heart-shaped face warmed into a shy and reserved smile and it was at that point that I noticed the difference in her eyes. They were not the same amber colour of the others. They were similar to my own, a sort of darkening red. Of course, Bella was a newborn too. She was _younger_ than me, in vampire years, although a similar age in human years I guessed.

I hovered over the greeting with Bella longer than I had the others, taking in her quiet beauty, her mysterious aura, her maturity and understanding which seemed to belie her age. I could understand why Edward had fallen for her so helplessly. She seemed more nervous than the others though. As if she was worried about something.

Edward spoke, on her behalf. He must have read her thoughts. "Bella is worried about our daughter. I was supposed to have warned you and now I am probably going to be in deep trouble." He eyed Bella apologetically.

"Hey, it's ok. I already know about Renesmee," I reassured her. "I won't harm her in any way. I promise."

Bella looked a little relieved but then she glanced at her husband again and another silent thought was processed.

Edward coughed. "Well, there is something else you need to know," he continued. "Renesmee is not here with us at the moment. She is back at our cottage with Jacob, a... um... a friend of ours."

Ok, I couldn't see a problem with that. It seemed perfectly reasonable to have a friend babysitting a small child while her parents greeted a total stranger into their lives.

Edward was reading my thoughts, my confusion "Well, the problem is that Jacob isn't a vampire."

Ahhh, that made sense. I could understand the anxiety. How could I be trusted with a human at my early stage of refinement.

"No, not human either, although..." Edward hesitated.

"Jacob's a werewolf," Bella interjected, obviously getting impatient with her husband's reluctance to get to the point.

That explained the unpleasant dog smell. I had temporarily forgotten about the wolves. Trying to present a calm and sophisticated impression to the Cullens had used up all my imagination. Now they had drawn my attention to it, it was quite strong. I guessed Jacob must spend a lot of time here with them.

Mortal enemies, living under one roof. I wasn't sure how that worked, but as I hadn't encountered a werewolf, and I didn't really know what their capabilities were, how dangerous they were, I decided I had to give it a go. If the Cullens could adapt, then I had to abide by the rules of whatever truce they had engineered. I was surprised though at how unpleasant the smell was to me, how it made me feel defensive. Not a good time to turn on my disgusting aura now though, not now I was trying so hard to appear to be trustworthy and charming. I so wanted to be accepted into their family. I wanted that more than anything else I could imagine.

Edward smiled at me as he processed my thoughts, "Good, so you will abide by the rules then."

I nodded, as Edward continued, "It isn't easy though, I'll warn you. When you first meet Jacob, your natural instincts will want to rip his head off." Emmett, I think it was Emmett, sniggered behind me. Bella shot him a reproachful glance.

I was aware that I hadn't spoken a word since my promise to Bella that I would not harm Renesmee. The whole family was looking at me now, presumably picking up from what Edward was saying, the exchange that had taken place. Edward had been my spokesperson, translating my thoughts and playing them out in front of the family. The silence was a little awkward so I simply confirmed "It's ok, I will behave myself. I promise."

"How rude of us," Carlisle suddenly spoke, "Leaving our guest hanging around on the doorstep, shall we go inside and make ourselves comfortable?"

And with that we headed into the house. Wow, if I had thought the outside was impressive, it was nothing to the inside. A huge chandelier dominated the living room. The whole room was tastefully decorated in a sort of off-white colour, even the furnishings, the large sofas and the curtains matched perfectly. The back wall of the room appeared to be made entirely out of glass. It was exquisite, like nothing I had seen before. This family had some serious money.

"Esme's hobby in life is interior design," Edward explained as he watched me taking it all in with my mouth agape.

Esme smiled sweetly at me and inclined her head, obviously pleased with her accomplishment, and my approval.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, confirming my approval to her. "If I ever get lucky enough to have a place of my own you can come and do mine."

"Thank you," she said "I look forward to it."

A large white grand piano occupied centre stage on a raised platform at one end of the room. "Edward's hobby," Esme explained as she followed my eyes. "Do you play?"

"No," I replied. "Tone deaf I am afraid." She looked a little disappointed so I added, "Oh, I can appreciate music, I just don't stand a chance of being able to reproduce it."

The tension that had filled the air seemed to subside. Carlisle indicated that we should all sit down. The sofas, a prop I imagined looked warm and inviting so I obliged. I was, after all in a house full of human-pretenders. I had to get used to acting in a way that humans would, to keep up the appearance. I sat next to Alice. I seemed more comfortable with her, I wasn't sure whether it was because I felt I knew her best, or whether it was just because she was so open and uncomplicated, apart from her little visions that is.

I noticed that Emmett had crossed his feet and relaxed back into the sofa so I did the same, appearing to look as casual about it as he did. I wondered if Edward was still reading my mind, and as I looked at him, he nodded at me smiling.

I leaned forward again now, feeling the need to speak, to clear the air. "Um" I cleared my throat. "I just wanted to say how grateful I am that you have welcomed me here. I'm not sure how much Alice and Jasper told you about me, but I want to learn your way of life."

Carlisle nodded, "Yes, we know. And you are very welcome here, for as long as you like, or for as long as it takes, as long as you don't break the rules. Do you understand?"

I nodded. "Yes, I think so. I mean apart from the obvious rules about not harming humans, and not exposing myself to the humans, is there anything else I should know?"

"Not really," Carlisle replied looking around the room for confirmation. "You know about the truce with the wolves I take it?"

I nodded again and as I glanced around the room I noticed Rosalie, who hadn't said a word yet, stiffened and screwed her beautiful features up as if she were offended by something truly repulsive. She wasn't happy with this alliance then? If she thought the wolves were repulsive, wait until she witnessed what I could do. I saw Edward smile at this so I knew he had picked up this errant thought. He let out a barely audible snigger.

"Well, yes, we have a truce with them," Carlisle continued, ignoring Rosalie's stiffened posture and Edward's obvious amusement in something. "It's a little uneasy at times, and to avoid any confrontation we don't hunt on their land."

"Ok," I said, a little unsure how I would know where their land was. I didn't want to slip up and cause them any trouble.

Edward spoke this time to help me out. "Don't worry, I will take you out hunting tomorrow night and show you the boundaries."

"It is basically the land to the West of here, towards the reservation at La Push. A river marks the boundary for most of the way," Carlisle explained. "But yes, Edward will show you the exact confines of our patch tomorrow. Are you ok to wait until tomorrow?"

I confirmed that I was, although I wasn't wholly confident.

"Would you rather go now?" Edward asked. "It's not a problem, I can take you." And with this he stood up. "Bella, do you want to come too, love?"

"No, I'm ok actually. I think I'll head back to the cottage with Jake and Renesmee, if that's ok?" She replied.

"They'll be sleeping, they are fine. You don't need to keep checking on them. Jacob would never let anything happen to her," Edward told her.

"Yeah, I know, but Jake is such a heavy sleeper. A meteor could land on the cottage and he wouldn't wake up."

"Ok then love, if it makes you happy," he replied softly. I could see that he would do anything to make her happy.

"I'll come!" Emmett announced, launching his huge body from the sofa, a large grin across his face.

"Fine," Edward eyed him suspiciously, "But no silly games Emmett, we don't want to frighten our guest." And then he turned to me, "And no using that weapon of yours, we don't want to frighten the animals away." But he wasn't scolding, he was smiling his crooked smile at me, and there was light-hearted laughter in his eyes.

"I don't think it works on animals," I smiled back, "But I'll not chance using it, just in case."

As we prepared to leave and Carlisle appeared to be giving Edward some unspoken guidelines, Emmett muttered something about Edward being no fun and so Edward slapped him on the back in a friendly manner. Emmett swung around so that he was behind Edward now, so quickly that I barely noticed the movement, and as he moved to grab Edward from behind, Edward was already facing him and they were interrupted by Esme telling them to behave themselves. The obeyed her instantly and apologised. "Just a bit of friendly banter," Emmett told me. "I can never get the better of Edward anyway. He's a cheater. He anticipates my every movement."

And so the three of us headed out into the night to hunt. That was my first of many evenings with the Cullens.


	10. Chapter 10 Bree

**Chapter Ten**

**Bree**

As promised, Edward showed me the boundaries of the Cullen land and where it ended. The other side of the river was out of bounds. He explained how the land, owned by the QuiIeute Tribe stretched from where we stood right to the coast at La Push. The Quileutes were an ancient Native American Tribe with the ability to shape-shift into Wolves. Edward wasn't sure how much I knew about werewolves, but Quileutes were not true werewolves. However, they were natural enemies and we had to be careful. They could be very dangerous. They had originally acquired the ability to transform into wolves when vampires had first arrived in the area, long before the Cullens had taken up residence in Forks. Their purpose was to protect their people. "Of course, we are not _true_ vampires, like the kind that these people originally encountered. We don't kill humans, and this is why they tolerate our existence here. Why we were able to make the treaty with them." Edward explained.

I could smell the wolf presence very strongly at intervals along the border of the land, although we didn't encounter any that night. I heard the occasional eerie howl though. "They are just communicating with each other," he told me. "They know you're here and they are spreading the warning."

"You can hear their thought's too?" I asked, incredulously.

"Yes," he replied. "It comes in handy. I would know if there was any immediate threat, but there isn't. They are just wary of strangers. They will be keeping a close watch until they know they can trust you."

I gulped. I still wasn't one hundred percent sure I could trust myself. There wasn't any point lying to Edward either. "I'm determined to try," I replied. "Really, I am. But don't let me out on my own, just yet."

Edward and Emmett both nodded and led me away from the Quileute land.

We headed off to hunt on neutral territory. We passed near to Edward and Bella's cottage at one point and again, the wolf smell had been overpowering. Edward had been right. My natural instincts were that of repulsion and disgust. I could hear Jacob snoring loudly from inside the cottage. Edward assured me, with amusement, that it was indeed Jacob and not Renesmee.

It seemed strange to me that Edward and Bella would entrust the safety of their daughter, whom they clearly idolised, to a wolf, an enemy. I could feel another set of questions building up in my mind but I tried to suppress them because we needed to hunt.

"Any time you like Fred," Edward had said kindly. "It's important that you understand if you are going to live here with our family."

I nodded,"Later."

"OK, but you do need to know this. Jacob is special. We don't trust all the wolves quite as much as Jacob. I'll explain the reasons for this later."

"Do you _completely_ trust him then, without any doubt? I asked.

"Where Renesmee is concerned, yes, completely. Why else would I feel comfortable leaving my daughter with him?" There was no hesitation in his reply at all.

We soon reached the mountains to the East of Forks and the hunt began. I watched with awe as Edward and Emmett tackled huge bears with complete ease. They taught me their techniques for tackling really large prey. The camaraderie that existed between them when they were in action was thrilling. I watched as they dared each other to take on bigger and bigger prey, arguing about who had killed the biggest. There was a lot of laughter and banter. Edward scolded Emmett on several occasions for showing off and _playing_ with his food.

Edward told me not to pay too much attention to Emmett's hunting methods. "Emmett sees everything as a game." He told me to watch him instead. He then caught a mountain lion and offered it to me, saying he had had his fill. I took it gladly, as so far, I had just been watching them and I was unbelievably thirsty by now. I would get the next one for myself though, but I was nervous of fouling up in front of these professionals.

"Don't worry," Edward told me. "Take your time and focus. Timing and distance is everything. Just follow the techniques we have shown you."

It wasn't very long before I caught my first mountain lion. I was pleased that they didn't intervene. They just maintained a watchful distance, close enough to help out if I came unstuck. Emmett applauded me as I emerged from the undergrowth after drinking the animal's blood. "Nice work Fred!" he exclaimed, with a huge wide grin which seemed to stretch from one side of his face to the other. I was elated that I hadn't had to struggle with it. It had been a clean kill. "Time to tackle a bear next," Emmett said with encouragement. Evidently it was an ongoing argument between Edward and Emmett as to which was the preferable prey, lions or bears. "Emmett is stronger than me, so he prefers the challenge of the huge bears, but I am much faster so I prefer the speed of the mountain lion," Edward offered, by way of explanation.

But it was getting light now so we decided to head back. I would have to save the bears for another time. I was on such a high after this evening's hunt. It was so much more fun to have company. I couldn't remember the last time I had felt this happy, this fulfilled. This was definitely the life for me. I wanted to remember this feeling for ever.

On the way back I decided to ask Edward about how he had killed Victoria. Edward initially appeared to not want to talk about it, like the memory brought him pain, not physical pain, but emotional pain. I could see it in his eyes and feel it in his silence. I felt awkward for having asked him and so I told him it didn't matter, I had just been curious.

"Thank you, anyway," I said, as an afterthought.

"Oh, ok. Believe me, I wanted her dead more than anyone," he had replied with real bitterness. "Sorry, it's just that the memory of Bella standing so close to her, so vulnerable and defenceless, and all my efforts to keep her safe had been in vain. It is so painful for me to remember."

"Yes, I'm sorry I asked," I mumbled apologetically," I didn't mean to cause you pain."

But it was too late. The memories had already come flooding back to him. He told me how they had hidden Bella in the mountains, taking great care not to leave a trail. Jacob had carried her up there the day before to mask her scent. Then he, Edward, had been foolish enough to return to the clearing that morning to find Jacob, after an argument with Bella, and Victoria and Riley had then been able to follow his scent back up the mountain. "I led them to her," he told me with real anguish on his face.

He described the fight with Riley and Victoria in detail. Riley, on his own would not have been much of a challenge. But Victoria was lethal. She was fast, very fast, and agile. He would not have coped if it weren't for the unexpected and invaluable help he had received from the very young and inexperienced werewolf called Seth. Bella had confused the issue herself to distract Victoria by slashing her arm open with a shard of rock. "Not the brightest of moves on her part," he admitted, "but in a way, it did help. Victoria and Riley had certainly been distracted by the smell of her fresh blood. We were able to finish them off quite easily between us. It was so fortunate that Seth had remained with us rather than joining the fight. I literally owe my life to him, and Bella's. The ironic thing is that the wolves had kept him away from the fight because he was too young, not wanting him to be hurt, and he ended up being the hero of the day."

"What about the fight in the clearing?" I asked. I decided that now I had got him talking, now would be a good opportunity to ask about Bree.

"You'll need to ask Emmett about that," he told me, "If you want first-hand experience."

"Gladly," Emmett volunteered. "It was awesome." And then he seemed to remember that he was talking to one of those that had been created to destroy him. That by all accounts I should have been there that day. "Sorry, they were friends of yours," he added.

"No, not really, well, there was only one really. The rest of them were barely more civilised than Neanderthals," and I let out a little laugh to ease the tension. "There was a young girl called Bree. I don't know if you noticed her. She would have been much younger…." I trailed off as I noticed the looks that exchanged between them.

"What?" I asked after very long silence.

"Ok," Edward eventually said after Emmett shrugged his massive shoulders and shook his head a few times.

It was clear it wasn't going to be good news.

"My brother doesn't think you would want to know the whole story, but I disagree. I often find that it is easier to understand if you know the truth, the complete truth." Edward looked at me as if seeking approval before continuing.

I nodded, confirming his beliefs. "I just want to know what happened to her. You can spare me the detail if you wish."

"Was she your girlfriend?" Edward asked me.

I told him that we were just friends, but were fairly close. That the closest thing she had to a boyfriend was a young vampire called Diego, who I hadn't seen since two or three days before the fight. I hadn't known what had happened to him either, but I suspected he had been killed by Riley, punished for being too presumptuous. He had been about to expose some of Riley's lies. There were things he knew about, that Riley would have disapproved of.

Edward then told me, in his soft and sensitive voice, obviously aware of my feelings, how Bree had surrendered at the scene, had told Carlisle she hadn't wanted to be there and didn't want to fight. How Carlisle and Esme had given her a chance and offered her protection, if she promised to behave herself.

This had all been quite plausible so far. I could imagine Bree doing that. She wasn't the bravest. But then came the crunch. The Volturi had turned up and hadn't quite seen it that way. After they had interrogated her to find out who her creator was "As if they didn't know already," Edward had spoken this line with utter contempt, they had killed her anyway.

"The Volturi don't give second chances," Emmett said, mimicking one of their voices, a female.

"I was able to hear her thoughts," Edward continued sadly, "it was awful." He shuddered at this point and looked down at the ground. "She knew what was about to happen. She knew she was going to die and she knew one of us was a mind reader so she shaped her thoughts accordingly. Firstly, she thanked us for giving her a chance. She then passed on some information she thought might be useful for us to know, that she was aware that the Volturi had known about the newborns and hadn't intervened because they had wanted Victoria to succeed in destroying us. We had our suspicions already, but I was grateful to her for confirming it." His deep soulful eyes had been full of sorrow as he continued.

"She thought she had heard Diego's scream at one point but it had been masked out by a cry from one of the wolves. She didn't know about the wolves though. She was confused. She described it as sounding like a cry from an injured animal. It was. It was Jacob. He sustained quite severe injuries that day, from Diego. I didn't know it until now, but I think from what you told me about Diego being Bree's boyfriend, it is possible that he wasn't fighting either, he was looking for her. He hadn't appeared until the fighting was over. We assumed he had been hiding, planning to ambush us after the fight and maybe take one or two of us out when we were least expecting it, but it now seems likely that he had simply been looking for her. Either way, it is just a tragedy that they didn't find each other earlier or they might both have been spared."

I had frowned at this point, not sure I had understood what he had been saying. I was mulling it over in my head, Bree and Diego, if only they had met up away from the battlefield…Jacob attacked Diego and then got injured?

"You mustn't blame Jacob," he added. "He wasn't the one who attacked Diego, if indeed it was Diego. It was one of the others, a female wolf, the only female in the pack. Jacob was just defending her because she wouldn't have stood a chance. She's not nearly as powerful as she thinks she is."

I felt Edward's pain and remorse. I felt pain for myself too. After all this time, not knowing, I didn't know if I felt relief or despair, or was it just numbness?

"Thanks," I muttered "At least you tried, and now I know."

There had been silence for most of the journey back to the house. Not through any awkwardness, but more through the grief that each of us was suffering internally after sharing the experience of reliving that day. I doubted Emmett had been suffering as much as Edward and I, being the light-hearted joker that he was, but he had been respectful of our feelings and had refrained from jerking around like he had been doing earlier. To be honest, looking back on it, I would have preferred him to have lightened the mood, but at the time it had seemed appropriate to honour my little friend by remembering, in the detail Edward had described, her last few thoughts before she had departed her short second life.

So I had gone from high to low, experienced to the full both ends of the scale, in one evening. But at least now I had closure on that episode. Bree was dead, and most likely Diego was too. I could move on. There had been no survivors.


	11. Chapter 11 Coincidence

**Chapter Eleven**

**Coincidence**

As we neared the Cullen Mansion, we passed by the cottage once more. It was a strange little place, made entirely out of stone. I imagined it had been renovated recently as some of the stonework looked new. I wondered why Edward and Bella had their own cottage but the rest of the family all lived together. I decided it was probably because they were the only ones with a child. There was no snoring coming from inside this time, and the wolf stench was less apparent. I could only hear one heart-beat this time too.

"Jacob must have left," Edward informed us. "You two head back to the house and I'll check in on Bella and Renesmee."

We returned to the rest of the family who were waiting eagerly in the elegant living room. It was fully light by now. I noticed the back wall of the house, which was made almost entirely from glass looked out over a huge and beautiful garden which extended all the way down to the river.

We greeted each other warmly. Emmett sat down next to Rosalie and gave her a hug and a kiss. She responded with, "Hi honey, missed you."She kissed him back, on the were all keen to learn if I had enjoyed my first group hunt. I nodded enthusiastically and confirmed that I had indeed made a kill and had really enjoyed having the company. It had been fun. "Emmett wants me to tackle a bear next time," I told them.

"No surprise there," Jasper smirked.

Esme then leaned forward and spoke to me quietly in her soft, motherly voice, "I have prepared the spare room for you Fred. I hope you will find it to your liking. If you need a change of clothes I expect Jasper will be able to help out, just until we can get you some of your own."

It hadn't occurred to me to get more than one set of clothes from the exclusive clothing store I had visited on my way here, but I noticed that the whole family had changed into different clothes from the night before. Obviously sophisticated vampires were expected to change their clothes daily as humans would. All part of the pretence I imagined. I would have to remember this as I had got out of the habit of changing my clothes unless they became really ragged or dirty.

Jasper nodded. "I'll take you up in a minute, show you your room, and then I'll get some clothes for you," he offered. "To be honest, we were expecting you to come back covered in blood!" he laughed.

"No, I had good teachers," I assured him.

"And you are a quick learner," Emmett said approvingly.

"I'll get the clothes," Alice commanded as she leapt off the sofa and was half-way up the stairs in a flash." She then turned around and smiled at me, "Jasper is hopeless, he has no idea what colours clash. If I didn't dress him each day he would look hideous." And she danced up the rest of the stairs leaving Jasper sighing on the sofa, shaking his head.

"That's Alice, our very own fashion guru," he shrugged.

Emmett spoke now. "We have told Fred everything about the battle with the newborns."

The others nodded, not quite understanding the significance of the statement. I expected Emmett would fill them in later when I wasn't around. He didn't continue now at least, and I didn't particularly want to talk about it yet either so we left it at that. Instead he turned on the huge widescreen television. "I just want to catch the early morning news," he explained.

Alice reappeared in one darting movement ."All ready for you," she declared, looking pleased with herself.

"Take as long as you like," Esme reassured me. "It's been a busy night for you and I expect you want some time to yourself. Our family can be a bit much, if you aren't use to us. Alice and Rosalie are going shopping later so they can pick up some more clothes for you, unless of course you would like to pick up your own?"

Was she always this thoughtful and considerate? I hoped so. I liked her a lot. She reminded me of my own mother in many ways, with her kindness and her compassion.

"Um, no, that will be fine, thanks. Whatever Alice decides will be great, I'm sure. I am happy to bow to the fashion guru's wishes." I gave Alice a wicked grin as I said this. I stole a quick glance at Rosalie but she was, as usual, expressionless. I had slipped up there. I should have included Rosalie in that statement. I had insinuated that Rosalie didn't have great taste. Too late now.

"You haven't seen what she has picked out for you yet," Emmett joked.

Jasper stood up and gestured towards the stairs ."Come on, let's go and see what horror awaits you." And with that, Alice threw a cushion at him which rebounded off his rock-hard body and almost knocked one of the elegant vases off the side-table he was standing next to. The vase wobbled slightly and then fortunately corrected itself to its upright position.

"Alice!" Esme chided. "I am very fond of that vase," but she was not angry, and they were all laughing. Even Rosalie was smiling now.

"Um, there is one more thing I would like to say, if you don't mind," I announced suddenly. I wasn't sure where this had come from but I suddenly felt the urge to be myself. Maybe it was the feeling of being part of a family again, the feeling of warmth and companionship that had eluded me the past couple of years. Maybe I didn't want to be Freaky Fred any more?

They were all looking at me expectantly like I was about to announce something major.

"Oh, it's nothing really, it's just that my name isn't really Fred. I adopted that name after I had been changed, not wanting to put any slur on my family should we get found out. I know it sounds silly, but I didn't know how these things worked. Now that I have discovered a better way of life, I want to put the past behind me now so would it be ok for you to call me by my real name?"

They were all still staring at me. "Go on then," Emmett prompted me. "It's not anything dreadful is it?" he teased.

"No," I smiled back at him, "Well, at least I don't think so." I paused, "It's Will, or William, I don't mind either. William Hale."

The room fell silent. It was like I had dropped a bomb. I didn't quite understand the looks that followed, or the gasp from Esme, or the sudden piercing glare that came from Rosalie. This was the first time she had really paid me any attention. Mostly she had ignored me, but occasionally I had picked up an aura of general annoyance and indifference, like I was an unwanted intrusion. Edward had warned me about Rosalie so I hadn't paid too much attention to it. I wondered what her problem was, but not enough to dwell on it, up until now. This was different. She was actually looking directly at me now, for the first time.

I couldn't read the look on her beautiful face. It was a mixture of anger and surprise, and yet was there a hint of curiosity there too?

Carlisle broke the silence with a cough. "William _Hale_?" he asked, seeking confirmation that he had heard me correctly.

I tried to smile. "Yes," I replied , "Is there a problem? Do you know my family or something?"

"No, not exactly," Carlisle replied, "although Rosalie..." he nodded at Rosalie as if wanting her to continue.

She stood up now and faced me. "Hale is my family name. I am sorry if I over-reacted, but it has been a long time since I heard that name associated with anyone else." She was smiling now. Rosalie was actually smiling, genuinely it seemed, albeit nervously.

"O- kay," I said slowly, the possibilities sinking in. "Where does your family come from?"

"New York mostly," she replied. "Rochester."

"My father's family is from New York," I muttered. "No, surely not, this would be too much of a coincidence."

We had both sat down again now. I had forgotten all about changing my clothes or checking out my room.

"Look Fred... er William, it's probably nothing. It is not a terribly unusual name," Rosalie offered, "and it's not like we are close relations, like brother or sister or anything. If we are related I am most probably your great, great ,great aunt or something. I've been around a long time. I was born in nineteen-fifteen."

The others were all still staring at us, presumably trying to see if there was any family resemblance.

"Well," Carlisle was, as usual, the first to break the silence, "Rose is right, it's not an uncommon name, and it would be a huge coincidence, but we must certainly look into it."

"There are a lot of genealogy sites on the internet," Alice announced, suddenly leaping up and running upstairs again. She appeared about two seconds later with a laptop in her hand. "I found them last year when I was trying to uncover my past." She said as she glided swiftly down the stairs.

"I'll do it Alice," Rosalie said stiffly. "It's my family...and Williams."

"Ok." Alice didn't seem offended by Rosalie's tone. "Only trying to help," she announced in her usual dancing voice. She instantly handed Rosalie the computer. "But don't be all day about it. I know how _slow_ you are. We have shopping to do."

"I could go with you Alice?" Esme offered.

"Ok. That would be nice. You haven't been shopping with me for ages," Alice replied, and then she turned to me and asked, "Aren't you ever going to go and get changed?"

She was obviously impatient to see what her choice of clothes looked like on me. So, I gave Rosalie one last smile and headed upstairs, with Jasper leading the way. "Miss bossy boots," he said over his shoulder and Alice stuck her tongue out at him.

"William?" Rosalie called out as I was nearly at the top of the stairs.

"Yes?" I replied, turning to face her, feeling apprehensive. Wondering if I had done something to upset her, but she was smiling.

"I may need some details from you. Would you like to help me later, when you have finished trying to appease my sister?" She shot a smirk at Alice. Rosalie had actually made a joke, sort of. She was smiling at me, she wanted my help. This was a breakthrough indeed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emmett grinning and nodding. Jasper let out a whistle and muttered something under his breath that sounded like, "w-o-w". It was clear they were not used to Rosalie accepting anyone quite so readily.


	12. Chapter 12 Renesmee

**Chapter Twelve**

** Renesmee**

Jasper headed back down the stairs after showing me to my room. He had shown me all the rooms on the way, including Carlisle's impressive study, which was filled with books, ancient books. Huge portraits adorned the walls and an enormous desk occupied centre stage.

Yes, my room. I had my own room in this elaborate mansion owned by this wonderful family. It was a very satisfying feeling. I had truly been given a second chance. I smiled at the clothes that Alice had laid out on the enormous couch which took up most of the far side of the room. The trousers were similar to the ones I was wearing, but the shirt was short sleeved and a fine check pattern. Nothing too offensive then. Emmett and Jasper had made me slightly nervous by their teasing. That was a relief; it had just been a joke. She had also placed a neatly folded dark brown Kashmir jumper underneath the shirt, like this was an optional extra. It was all brand-new. I had presumed I would have been given some of Jasper's cast-off's, something that he had maybe worn a few times but didn't like much.

I changed into my new clothes quickly, admiring myself in the full-length mirror when I had finished. They were a perfect fit. It was surprising what a difference an expensive set of clothes made to someone's appearance. I was quite pleased with the reflection I was now looking at. I was handsome and debonair. I could easily pass for a middle-class businessman. If it weren't for the red eyes, I reminded myself before I got too carried away.

I was torn. I wanted to spend a little time to myself. I felt so much grief for my poor little friend Bree, and I wanted some time to reflect on this, but I didn't want to be rude, and in any case, I also wanted to spend some more time with the family, soaking up any information I could glean about their lives; enjoying their company. Esme had told me to take my time, but it seemed impolite to linger here on my own for too long.

Rosalie was downstairs trying to uncover some tenuous link between us. I was pretty sure nothing would come of it; that it would either be inconclusive, or turn out that we were not related at all. How could one family be so unlucky to lose two members of its family to the vampire world in less than a century? However, it suited me to keep on the right side of her, as she had indeed been exceedingly frosty up until she discovered I might be some distant relation.

I paused for a minute to contemplate what i was supposed to do with the clothes I had been wearing? Did they do laundry? Did they ever wear the same thing twice? I would have a quiet word with Esme when no-one else was around. For now, I folded them as neatly as I could and placed them on the couch where Alice had left the new ones.

I glanced once more round the room, taking in the television set in one corner, with built-in DVD. A home cinema system with huge speakers and a few DVD's were on a shelf below it. My eyes then rested on my well-worn back pack which presumably Esme had placed next to the couch. I was glad she hadn't unpacked it. All that crumpled up cash in the bottom of it would have been a bit of an embarrassment. Not that I imagined the Cullens were unused to large amounts of money, it just seemed vulgar to carry so much cash, and in such a sorry state. It suddenly occurred to me that I ought to offer to give Alice some money for the clothes she was going to buy for me. She more than likely wouldn't accept it but it was rude not to offer. I quickly opened the bag and took out the cash, trying to straighten it out in the process, unsuccessfully. Still, it would have to do. I folded it in half and slipped it into the back pocket of my trousers and headed downstairs.

Rosalie was hunched over the laptop looking deep in concentration. Emmett was leaning back on the sofa beside her, his usual casual posture, with one arm loosely around her tiny waist. Alice eyed me up and down approvingly, "Not bad, not at all bad," she commented. Esme smiled her warm, caring smile. "It's a perfect fit," she said, softly. I nodded and thanked them, a little embarrassed with all the attention.

"Carlisle has gone up to his study," Esme informed me, noticing I was looking around the room. He must have gone up while I was changing then because his study had been empty when Jasper had shown me earlier. "He had to take a call," Esme explained.

I sat down next to Rosalie. She looked up at me and smiled, as she suddenly became aware of the movement next to her. She had been so engrossed she hadn't noticed me come downstairs.

"Have you found anything yet?" I asked her.

"No not yet. Do you have any idea how many William Hales there are?"

I didn't. "Why don't you start from your end and work forwards?" I offered. "Rosalie is more unusual."

"Hmmm," she pondered. "I didn't think of that. It might be easier."

"I've always said blondes are dumb," Emmett teased. He received a sharp crack in the ribs for that comment. He pretended to be hurt.

"What's that ticking sound?" Emmett continued, his had cupped around his ear as if straining to hear something. "Oh, it must be the little-used brain of my darling beautiful wife."

"Very funny Emmett." Rosalie hissed.

Alice suddenly leapt up anxiously. "Edward and Bella are coming. Are you ready to meet Renesmee?" She asked me.

"Of course," I replied. I couldn't understand why everyone was so worried about it. I loved children and there is no way I would ever hurt one.

"Excellent!" Alice exclaimed. "They will be here in about thirty seconds."

I started counting out the seconds in my head. I didn't know why, curiosity I suppose to see how accurate she was.

Just as I reached twenty-nine, the door opened and in walked the remaining members of the family. I briefly had a chance to take in Renesmee's childish beauty, her long dark auburn hair in beautifully formed ringlets framing her face, and her radiant smile. And then the stench hit me.

Lingering in the doorway, a little behind Edward, looking rather tense, was a tall dark-skinned Native American wearing nothing but a pair of cut-off jeans. He was an impressive sight. He must have been about six foot six or seven, his massive shoulders topped off an enormous muscular torso.

Rosalie hissed and stiffened visibly in the seat beside me. This had to be Jacob. He was glaring at me like I was his worst enemy and his nose was slightly twisted as if he was taking in an unpleasant smell, but I wasn't using my repulsion. I was making a conscious effort not to use it while in this refined company. It was weird then that Jacob was obviously finding something so offensive too.

Alice could have warned me. I hadn't been prepared for this, but on reflection, I don't suppose it would have helped if I had been prepared. I couldn't exactly have run away. I wondered if the rest of the family knew, in which case it would explain their anxiety. They weren't afraid of my reaction to Renesmee, it was Jacob they were worried about. I reminded myself that the Cullens had a truce with these wolves. What should I do now? Introduce myself? No, I would wait. Edward was watching me and he would sense my awkwardness.

He nodded at me and then, "Jacob," he began, "This is Fred. The one we told you about. He is going to be staying with us for a while and I want you to be nice to him." Jacob had to be told to be nice then? Presumably the wolf instincts were to rip vampires to pieces then, even in polite company. Maybe his wrinkled nose had purely been a natural reaction to the smell of vampires, whatever that was.

"Actually, it's not Fred, its William," Alice chirped in.

Nice one Alice, I thought, now really wasn't the time. I had enough to concentrate on at the moment without any distractions about my past.

"Oh." Edward said thoughtfully. "I see."

I wasn't sure whose mind he was reading, but he was obviously processing the thoughts of someone in the room, probably Alice. Yes, it was Alice. He was looking at her now. She was telling him everything, silently. I noticed Edward's face change several times as he _listened _to her, his eyebrows knitted together at the end of their exchange, like he had a question to ask.

I noticed too that Jasper had shifted his position so that he was halfway across the room now separating the newcomers from the rest of us.

"OK then." Edward took in a deep breath. "Jacob, this is William. William _Hale_?"

I nodded at him and then spoke. "Hello Jacob", I offered in the most casual voice I could muster.

As I stood up to greet him I deliberately made my speed more human, slower, and more deliberate, so as not to startle him. He took a step back so that he was almost out of the door now, and he had pulled Renesmee with him, his hands firmly on her shoulders.

"Jacob." Bella muttered. "Be nice. William is not going to hurt Renesmee."

"Sure." He replied. "Hi William," his tone was sarcastic and mocking. He had relaxed slightly though.

I decided against walking over and shaking hands so I just nodded. I was feeling totally calm about the situation now. I didn't like his smell, but I no longer felt him to be a threat.

Renesmee broke the tension. She grabbed hold of his Jacob's hand, pulling him into the room. "It's ok, it's ok," she was saying to him. "Come say hello. Come on Jake."

Jacob's glare immediately vanished and a warm smile broke across his face as he looked adoringly at the little girl. "Ok, Nessie, for you, anything."

I was relieved that she appeared to have a nick-name that was easier to pronounce. Renesmee was a bit of a mouthful.

She danced across the room to me dragging Jacob with her. Her cute smile was captivating. She took hold of my right hand, quite forcibly for such a small child, and placed it firmly in Jacob's right hand. The heat coming from Jacob's hand almost made me recoil, but I corrected myself instantly hoping no-one noticed. "Shake!" she commanded. We obeyed.

"Good," she said, "Now we can all be fwiends?" the child-like way she pronounced her r's as w's was endearing. I momentarily reflected that I was glad I wasn't called Robert, or Richard. William should be easier for her. She was the most beautiful child I had ever seen. She had warm dark brown eyes I noticed, and then I reminded myself she was half-human. I could hear her fairly rapid heart-beat, blending in with the slower and steadier sound of Jacob's.

Instinctively, once I had released myself from Jacob's hot grip, I crouched down so that I was eye level with Renesmee. She reached her hand forward and touched my forehead with it. What was she doing? Her touch was hotter than average too, but now I could see images in my mind, she was showing me the contents of _her_ mind, _her_ memories. This was an extraordinary gift. They were so clear. I watched her playing hide and seek with Jacob in the forest, then she took me inside their cottage and I watched Jacob tucking her up in bed and reading her a story, kissing her goodnight, then there were images of her hunting with Bella and a giant russet coloured wolf. She showed no fear of him. This must be Jacob in his wolf form. The images flowed so fluently it was like watching a movie.

"See," she said, "Jacob is my best fwiend."

I looked up at Jacob, having to crane my neck to do so. Jacob was smiling now, a sort of goofy grin. I expect he knew what she was showing me. "Amazing," I told him.

Edward and Bella had come over now too and were hovering behind Jacob. I noticed for the first time today that Bella's eyes were no longer red. They were a sort of muddy dark brown colour. Did this happen overnight?

"Why you called William and not Fwed?" Renesmee asked me suddenly, taking me by surprise.

I smiled at her, not exactly sure what I should tell her, it seemed a bit of a complicated story to tell a child. Edward helped me out. "He thought William would be easier for you to say," and he winked at me.

I laughed and asked, "And why are you called Nessie and not Renesmee?"

"Jacob can't say Wenesmee," she replied. This made us all laugh, even Jacob. It seemed the tension was over. Jasper returned now to the couch next to Alice, who gave him a warming smile. "Nicely done," she told him. I would have to ask later what it was that he had done. He hadn't said a whole word since I had come downstairs.

"I think I should get going now," Bella looked at Edward for approval.

"Yes, ok love." Edward replied. "Jacob, are you going too?"

He nodded.

Carlisle was coming down the stairs now, "Are you going out already?" he asked. "I'm sorry, I've missed you. I was involved in something."

"Gwampa!" Renesmee exclaimed as she hurtled across the room to give him a hug.

He reached down to pick her up and then swirled her round in his arms.

"Yes, I'm taking Renesmee over to see Charlie," Bella replied to the question Carlisle had asked before the interruption. "Before Charlie decides to come here..."

"Ok, yes. That makes sense," Carlisle replied.

Someone would presumably tell me who Charlie was at some point, but I presumed he was either another wolf, or maybe even a human, and they didn't trust me enough to be around humans just yet. Quite wise, I thought. I didn't trust myself yet either.

"Charlie is Bella's father," Edward explained. "Yes, he is human, and he sometimes visits us on a Sunday."

"He knows about you then?" I asked, wondering how they had dealt with this delicate situation, and feeling more than a little jealous that Bella was still able to keep in touch with her human family.

"No, not entirely," Bella replied. "Charlie is on a need to know basis; that was his terminology, not ours. He knows there is something different about us, but he doesn't know the truth. He doesn't want to know. He is the chief of Police in Forks, you see, and prefers to remain in the dark about certain things. He doesn't want to compromise his position. As long as I am happy, he doesn't ask any questions." She paused a little and then added, "He does, however know about the wolves." She shot Jacob a reproachful glance as she spoke the last sentence.

Jacob screwed the corner of his mouth up into a sort of crooked grin. "Yeah, well I had to tell him _something_."

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "You are so lucky, Bella."

"Yes, I know. I am _very_ lucky." She smiled at me for a while as if contemplating how lucky she was and at the same time understanding the suffering I felt for not being able to be with my family. Then she scooped Renesmee up in her arms, gave Edward a lingering kiss on the lips and headed for the door. "See you later, love," she told him. Jacob was immediately right behind her. "See you all later," Jacob's said in his deep gruff voice. Renesmee was waving at us and she blew me a kiss as they left the house. What an adorable child, I thought.

A few moments later I heard a car speeding away from the house.

"Sorry, I missed that. I should have been here," Carlisle said apologetically.

"Oh, it was ok, Jasper had it covered," Alice replied.

"Jasper?" I asked.

"Yes, Jasper has a gift too," Alice explained. "He can control moods, calm situations, that sort of thing." I looked at Jasper and he nodded, grinning like he was pleased with himself.

"Ah, I wondered what that was all about. Why you suddenly put yourself between us. I assumed you were there to break up any fight that might have started."

"Well, yes, there was always that possibility too," Jasper replied.

"And then, I overheard Alice praising you for doing something, but I hadn't been aware that you had done anything." I laughed.

"I'm very subtle," Jasper grinned. "Most of the time, people don't know I'm doing it."

A ripple of quiet laughter filled the room.

"Edward, what a beautiful daughter you have," I told him, "Absolutely adorable." I shook my head, marvelling at her beauty and charm, remembering the visions that her exceptional _talent_ had shown me.

"Yes," he replied thoughtfully, "Isn't she just?"


	13. Chapter 13 Skills

Chapter Thirteen Skills

Carlisle cleared this throat. "If you will all excuse me, I need to go out too. I'm needed at the hospital."

"On a Sunday?" Esme asked, seemingly surprised.

"Yes, that was the phone call. I was talking to one of the paramedics. There has been an accident." Carlisle replied, and then obviously noticing Esme's worried expression he added, "Oh, no-one we know, some tourists at la Push. One of them has fallen off the cliff and has severe injuries."

Esme smiled, relieved I guess that it was on-one she knew, but then looked concerned, shaking her head, "Oh, how terrible."

"Yes. Indeed." Carlisle agreed. "I'll see you all later."

He vanished out of the door and in a couple of seconds, the Black Mercedes, still outside the front of the house from the night before, was racing down the drive.

The night before, was that all it had been? So much had happened already, and I hadn't been here twelve hours yet. That was one of the joys of having a family, there was always something happening.

"Shall we go then?" asked Alice. She was obviously keen to embark on what I imagined was one of her favourite hobbies.

"Yes, of course," Esme Replied, smiling.

"Oh, um, Alice," I remembered the large amount of cash I had concealed in my pocket.

She spun around and gave me a wistful glare, not angry, just a little hurt. "No! No need for that." She shook her head vehemently.

"Oh, I already knew what you were going to do, I saw it earlier," she explained, "and really, there is no need. You save that for one day when you might really need it."

"Ok, thanks," I mumbled, a little embarrassed for offering, but not as embarrassed as I would have felt if I hadn't.

And then Alice and Esme disappeared too. A couple of moments later and another car shot down the drive. This one sounded like a sports car. How many cars did they have?

"Seven." Edward informed me.

I nodded in appreciation and let out a bit of a whistle.

"Would you like to see?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks," I replied.

So Edward led me down to the Cullens garage which was underneath the house. It was huge.

"Of course, three of the cars are out at the moment. One of them you have already seen; Carlisle's Mercedes. Bella has taken my Volvo, which is nothing particularly special, just my everyday car, and Alice has taken her Porsche. You can see that later when she returns. I am sure she will be pleased to show it off to you."

I glanced at the four remaining cars in the basement garage. One of them was covered in drapes of some kind. "I'll come to that one last, it's my own personal little indulgence," Edward explained, trying to conceal a grin.

"This is Emmett's Jeep. It kind of suits his character, don't you think?"

I had to admit it did. It wasn't the kind of vehicle that I was particularly interested in though. Although it _was_ impressive, I found my eyes drawn to the shiny red BMW convertible alongside it. "Rosalie's?" I guessed. Edward nodded.

"Yeah, it suits her. Is it an M3?"

"Yes," Edward replied. "Rosalie's baby. She spends a great deal of time out here fine tuning it. You seem to have provided her with something else to occupy her mind with today though?"

"Yes, a bit of coincidence that." I mused. "Too much of a coincidence. I doubt she will uncover anything."

"Nevertheless, it has provided an alliance between the two of you. You couldn't have failed to notice her hostility prior to this discovery?"

I grinned. "Yes, and I gather it is unusual for her to accept anyone quite so readily?"

"It normally takes months, even years, sometimes never. She only warmed to Bella because Bella gave her what she had always wanted, a child."

"Ah, I see." I replied thoughtfully. I didn't really see at all. I hadn't seen Rosalie pay much attention to Renesmee yet.

"Oh, she did, initially," Edward interjected, reading my thoughts, "But she had to take a step backwards to avoid confrontation with Jacob."

I still wasn't getting the point so Edward continued. "I told you last night that Jacob was special, and I guess, from what you experienced today, you have probably been left wondering what exactly is so special about him?"

I nodded. I had been thinking exactly that.

"Well, it's complicated, but basically, the Quileute Wolves have something which they refer to as imprinting. It is like falling in love, but much, much stronger. It is completely absorbing. I have to confess, that not being a wolf, I don't fully understand it, but I have seen it through Jacob's thoughts and it is extremely powerful."

"So Jacob, he has _imprinted_ on Renesmee?" I asked

Edward nodded. "I wasn't entirely happy with it. In fact, I was very uncomfortable with the whole idea of it at first, but being able to read Jacob's mind helps. I have complete confidence in him. He would never, ever do anything to hurt her. His sole purpose in life is to protect her and to please her."

"And Rosalie? She accepted this? She doesn't seem to like Jacob very much?" I remembered how she had stiffened when he had entered the room earlier.

"No, she doesn't. She has the least tolerance for any of the wolves. She doesn't really accept it, but she realises it is futile to stand in the way. It is too strong and powerful, and she would not risk hurting the family in any way by causing any conflict with the wolves."

Edward paused. "You see, the truce with the wolves. It is a bit like standing on a knife edge. It is very delicately balanced, due to us being natural enemies. It wouldn't take much to topple over. Before Jacob imprinted on Renesmee, the wolves, Jacob included were ready to destroy the whole family because of Renesmee. They saw her as a monster, a threat, an unknown quantity. They also believed we had broken the truce by allowing Bella to die in order to create this child. It hadn't been quite like that from our point of view, trust me. It was never my intention to put Bella through such unbearable pain."

"But Bella had wanted to become immortal? Alice told me."

"Yes, she did. But it was not what I wanted. I didn't want to be the one to take her soul from her. And, as far as the wolves were concerned, it made no difference what Bella's wishes were. We had broken the truce by biting a human."

I whistled. "There is so much more to your life here than anyone could imagine. Fascinating."

"Yes, you have much to learn, but I don't want to overload you with too much at once," he smiled his crooked smile as we moved on to the next car and announced proudly "Bella's wedding gift from me!"

"Wow!" I exclaimed as I looked at the shiny Ferrari, gleaming in front of me. "Cool!"

"Yes, I think so," Edward replied, but then a look of sorrow crossed his face. "Bella doesn't approve of it though. Oh, it's not that she is ungrateful, but she isn't really into cars, she sees it as unnecessary, and she has never liked accepting gifts in any case. She struggles with her worthiness sometimes. She doesn't seem to understand that I would buy the world for her if she would let me, because she _is _so very worthy of everything."

"That's too bad." I agreed. "I wondered why she had used your everyday Volvo when she had this at her disposal."

"Oh, well that is more to do with being inconspicuous and avoiding questions from Charlie. Also, there is no room for Renesmee's car seat in the Ferrari. I do wish she would use it occasionally though." He sighed heavily as he moved on to the next car, the final one in the far left hand corner of the garage, covered in wraps. I wondered with excitement what was hidden underneath.

Edward pulled back the covers to reveal a gleaming silver Aston Martin.

"Oh my God!" I explained, "You are kidding me! That is my ultimate dream car!" I was like a kid with a new toy, dancing around it, peering in through the windows. Edward pressed the key in his pocket and the doors unlocked.

"Get in," he encouraged. He held the driver's door open for me. I obeyed, without even thinking about it, I was far too overwhelmed. Within seconds he was sat next to me in the passenger seat, pressing a button which started the engine. I instinctively hit the gas pedal and the engine let out a deafening roar.

"Wow! What a sweet sound!" I exclaimed in admiration. I hit the pedal a couple more times, letting the sound of the powerful V12 engine resonate around the extensive garage.

"Do you have a licence?" What was he saying? Surely he didn't mean I could drive it?

"I did have, when I was human," I replied, a little sadly.

"Well that's ok then. My father-in-law is the Chief of Police around here anyway, so no problem. I just wanted to make sure you could actually drive a car before I let you loose with her."

"No Edward, you don't mean..."

"Of course I do. Please, go ahead."

"Wow!" I couldn't help repeating the word _wow_. I really couldn't think of anything else to say. Then I thought of another, "Awesome!"

And so we set off. I was a little timid with it until we got out on to the highway, but after a bit of encouragement from Edward I put my foot down and let her go. This was the first time I had driven a car since being a vampire and it was so very different. My instincts were so sharp now I found I didn't really need to concentrate. It didn't spoil the thrill though. I glanced down and the speedometer read one-fifty. "Crap! Sorry Edward." I slowed a little.

"No problem," he replied. "Actually, I was wondering why you were going so slowly."

We laughed, and I sped up again.

"While there is just the two of us, and I don't want to run the risk of making my entire family ill, I want to try out your skills a little. Do you remember we were going to have a little game?" he asked me. "A battle of the skills?"

"Yeah, but not while I am driving along at one hundred and eighty miles per hour in your Aston Martin," I replied.

He laughed. "Slow down again then if it makes you feel better, but there really is no need. I am just going to read your mind and then I want you to try and repel me, to see if it stops me."

"Ok, shoot then." I slowed down to an almost crawling one hundred.

"Go on then, repel me, but not for long or I will be sick and I don't want to ruin the leather upholstery." He pretended to vomit and laughed.

"Ready?" I asked him.

He nodded.

"It isn't going to work if you hold your breath!" I scolded him, noticing what he was doing.

"I'm bracing myself!"

And then he laughed and had to breathe. "Ugh!" he coughed and spluttered. "That really is vile."

I turned it off seeing him struggling to breathe. When he had recovered he asked, "Can you extend it to cover someone else?"

"Yes, I can if I concentrate, but I haven't practiced this for a while," and I then concentrated hard to include him in my aura too.

"Go on then, give it a go," he told me.

"I already am," I announced and gave him a grin.

"Oh yes, so you are. And I can read your thoughts again. Interesting."

"So you couldn't read my thoughts while you were being repulsed?" I asked.

"I couldn't do anything." He pretended to cough and splutter again. "It was so repulsive I couldn't concentrate on anything you were doing. I couldn't even look at you."

We both laughed again. I stopped the car in the road and asked him if he wanted to drive back, wondering absent-mindedly how many miles we had covered. We were probably half-way to Seattle already.

He nodded. "I don't get the chance to drive her very often." He told me.

So we swapped seats and then he began the drive back. He was driving it much harder than I had been. The trees whizzed by in a complete blur.

"So, you have a special skill, and Alice and Jasper, what about the others?" I asked him.

"Bella does, a very powerful one, although she won't admit it," he confirmed. "She can project a protective shield around all of us against an outside attack on our minds." He paused and looked down at one of the gauges. "We need fuel. Are you going to be ok if we stop off at the gas station? There will, of course be humans, but you can stay in the car. There are some shades in the glove compartment. Bella keeps a pair in every car just in case she needs them."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be ok." And then I remembered the colour of Bella's eyes this morning and so added, "Well, I guess Bella won't be needing the shades any more."

"Oh." Edward replied, and then let out a chuckle, "It fooled you did it?"

"What?"

"Bella was wearing contacts, to mask her eyes from Charlie." Edward explained. "I'll ask Alice to get some for you. It might come in handy."

"Ok, yeah. Thanks. I didn't know you could get such things." And then I remembered where our conversation had been heading before he realised we needed to get fuel. "Go-on, you were telling me about Bella's skill."

"Yes, well, I imagine it works in a similar way to yours. It is no good against a physical attack, but it prevents attacks on the mind. Yours is similar I think, except yours repulses people to the extent where a physical attack would be impossible, unless they could find a way in. Bella used hers at our last encounter with the Volturi, she shielded the whole family, and our guests, against the mental attacks the various members of the Volturi guard were trying to use on us. Quite powerful indeed. We must work on yours, to see how far you can extend it. I am also curious to see what effect, if any, it has on the wolves. We can experiment on Jacob." The thought of making Jacob feel sick seemed to amuse Edward, a crooked smile creeping across his face.

"Anyone else?" I asked. "Do you all have skills?"

"No, not all vampires do. Well, they usually find that something is enhanced from their human life; Rosalie's beauty, for example, and Emmet's strength. And you saw what Renesmee can do earlier today. That is quite exceptional. She is still developing that one, she doesn't need to touch your forehead any more, but we think she does it out of habit, to make people aware she is doing _something_."

"Yes, it was extremely powerful. Her memories were so clear. It was like watching a movie." I told him.

"Yes, I know. I saw what she was showing you."

Of course he did! He could read every thought. I really needed to remember that. It would take some getting used to as it still caught me off-guard sometimes.

We were nearing the town now and Edward double-checked that I would be ok while he stopped for fuel. I nodded. I had been around humans before in Alaska when I was with Steve and Shelly. Of course, that was a long time ago, but I was more sophisticated now.

"Do the wolves have any special powers?" I asked Edward all of a sudden. I had been thinking about all the supernatural skills at the disposal of the vampires and was curious.

"Well yes, and no, not exactly, but they can read each others' minds when they are in their wolf form, but only among themselves. However it is enormously powerful .They can communicate this way from a far greater distance than my comparatively feeble skill stretches. It enables them to keep in touch when they are running as a pack. Jacob reckons it can be done over a distance of three hundred miles, which is really quite exceptional. They also have superb senses, even better than ours."

"Three hundred miles! Amazing!" And then I remembered something else I wanted to ask, "And do they find our scent as repulsive as we find theirs?"

"Yes, I believe they do." And Edward laughed a little, "I know, hard to believe isn't it?" and he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

I laughed too, "yeah, unbelievable. I wondered why Jacob was looking so repulsed at something this morning. I thought I had turned on my stinky skill by mistake."

"Oh Jacob always reacts badly to a new vampire smell. He won't behave so badly next time, now he knows your scent, and knows you will not harm Renesmee. Well, I hope he won't, anyway. He is just so over-protective about her. It is a good thing really. It is like she has two super powerful fathers at the moment. Heaven help anyone who tried to harm her."

We pulled in to the gas station now. "Put the shades on," Edward suggested as he emerged from the car to fill it up. I found them in the glove box and obeyed him.

The car attracted a lot of attention. Edward shrugged it off by telling a couple of the more persistent admirers he had just borrowed it for the day; that it belonged to a friend of his, but I sat there petrified in case one of the humans came over to speak to me while Edward was inside paying for the fuel. This was harder than I thought it would be. It was no wonder Bella didn't want to drive her Ferrari. Being in a super car was far too conspicuous when you were trying hard not to draw attention to yourself.

Two attractive young girls about seventeen or eighteen were eyeing the car up from the other side of the street. Being a vampire, I could easily hear their conversation. "Wow, nice car. I wonder who it belongs too?" one of them had said. "Don't know, but the one in the passenger seat looks real fit. I wonder if the driver is hot too." I had thought it was quite amusing until they had started to cross the street towards the car. I could tell by the way they were walking that they were trying to appear ultra cool, trying to get my attention. They were attempting that kind of cat-walk movement, like models do, swaying their hips and brushing their hair back with their fingers but it was way too exaggerated. It made them appear rather silly and pathetic. I looked toward the kiosk, "Come on Edward, where are you?" I muttered under my breath," I am not going to deal with this very well...Edward!" If he didn't reappear soon I was going to have to repel these poor young girls in a way that would probably prevent them from approaching a flashy looking car ever again! Not only that but it would make everyone else within a hundred yards feel sick and that might just draw even more attention to us. They wouldn't realise it until after we had gone but they might just make the connection.

At that moment, just in the nick of time, he appeared, looking a little concerned "Ok," he told me, "I've got it." The girls wouldn't have heard it, being merely human. They were still half way across the busy road in the central reservation, waiting for the traffic to pass. One of them nudged the other, "Here he comes," she said.

He walked around the back of the car to where I was sitting and stood by the side of the car, cutting me off from their view.

"Oh, it's that Edward Cullen." I heard one of them say disappointed. "He's got a new car then now he's graduated, daddy bought it I expect."

"Come on, let's go. Mom says we should stay away from the Cullen's. I heard he got married now anyway," and they walked off, not paying quite so much attention to the _way_ they were walking now they weren't trying to impress. It was more of a scuttle now. This would have been amusing under different circumstances.

"Phew, that was close," I whispered under my breath.

Edward had walked back around the car and was climbing in the driver's seat now, "Yes, I am sorry about that. I had forgotten the female attention this car draws. It was my fault; I shouldn't have put you in that situation. I don't understand though, why didn't you use your skill?"

"I was just about to, when you came back. I hadn't wanted to use it while I was sat in your car, it seemed rude somehow. I didn't want people to associate the smell with your car" I laughed at how silly that statement sounded now that I had said it, "I was keeping it in reserve though, in case they got too close."

Edward laughed, "You have a powerful skill and you won't use it because you don't want to mess up my car?"

"Well, that wasn't quite what I meant, but I guess it must sound that way." I replied.

Edward was rocking in his seat laughing, but he still managed to drive at well over a hundred miles an hour. "Use your skill William, that is why you have been given it," he eventually said when he had stopped laughing at me.

Edward was a good-looking guy, extraordinarily so. Even as a male I could appreciate his charm. It puzzled me how the girls shrunk away from him so quickly once they realised who the car belonged to, especially since Edward was so polished at this pseudo human existence. "Did you know them? They seemed to know who you were," I asked him.

"Vaguely, I know their faces, but I don't know their names. They were in the year below me at High school. I guess they are seniors this year." His dismissive tone suggested he didn't particularly care. "I successfully scared them off anyway. I have this effect on girls. They like the look of me from a distance and then when I get close they get frightened. They seem to know I am different, somehow. Self-preservation." He started laughing again and then his laughter became a warm smile. "Except Bella, of course; she wouldn't listen. I kept trying to _tell_ her I was dangerous, I even _showed_ her how dangerous I was, but she kept coming back for more, luckily for me." And his face broke into a huge smile as he repeated, "Yes, luckily for me, she didn't listen."


	14. Chapter 14 The Link

**Chapter Fourteen**

** The Link**

We travelled at lightning speed back to the house. Edward told me all about Bella and his struggles with his relationship with her, how he had put her in danger every time he saw her. I could well imagine how it would have been nigh on impossible for him. It was a monument to how much he loved her that he was able to be with her so intimately without hurting her. He told me about the incident when she had cut her finger opening a birthday present and poor Jasper had not been able to control himself. How he had made the decision that it was too dangerous for her to remain in his company and had gone away, for her safety. He spoke this part of the story with such sorrow; I could tell it really hurt him to remember it. He had hoped she would get over him, but she hadn't. And he never forgot her either, never stopped loving her. During his absence she had formed a strong relationship with Jacob Black, which helped her fill her days, but she had really wanted Edward. She loved Jacob, but not in the same way.

"What made you come back then?" I asked him.

He took a deep breath, "I thought she was dead. She had gone cliff-jumping. Alice had a vision of Bella being dead. I decided that my life wasn't worth living so I went to the Volturi and asked them to end it for me."

"But she wasn't dead, obviously," I tried to bring him out of the pain he was so obviously feeling by reminding him that she was very much alive.

"No, she wasn't," and there was a vague hint of a smile now from him, "Jacob got to her just in time and pulled her out of the water. He saved her life. I will always owe him for that." He paused for a while, reflecting, and then continued, "Alice hot-tailed it back to Forks and found her alive, but then, not long after she arrived, she saw a vision of me, at the hands of the Volturi, so she and Bella came to Italy, to rescue me, to let me know Bella was still alive. From that moment on, I knew I would never be able to leave her again, that we were destined to be with each other."

We were back at the house now. The mood had changed. I was silent; there wasn't much I could say really. I felt his pain, and also the intensity of his love for Bella. I hoped I would find a soul-mate one day, but I didn't want this pain. Was it avoidable?

"Yes, it is avoidable. Don't fall in love with a human," he told me, patting me on the back as we headed into the house after we had returned the Aston to its rightful place in the corner of the garage. He put on a smile as we entered the house. Bella wasn't back yet, nor were the shoppers, so it was just, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie. Carlisle had returned but had gone up to his study.

"What do you think of the Aston then?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," I replied with a grin, nodding.

Rosalie had discarded the computer oton the table beside her so I assumed she had given up on her quest. She appeared to be in a good mood though looking pleased with herself and smiling at me still so maybe she had found something interesting. I would ask her later. Right now Alice and Esme had pulled up the driveway so I had to brace myself for the onslaught of several bags of shopping that they appeared to be taking out of Alice's bright yellow Porsche. How did they fit so much shopping in such a small car?

"Let's give them a hand," I suggested.

Edward and I went outside to take the eight heavy bags Alice had propped up by the front door. "Thank you both," Esme said warmly. Alice was putting her car away in the garage.

She danced into the room a few seconds later apologising for being gone so long and explaining to me that not all of the eight bags were for me.

That was a relief. "These are yours," she declared excitedly as she pointed to four of the bags that she had separated from the rest. The other four she scooped up in her hand and went to take them upstairs.

"I hope you will like them," Esme said, "Alice gets a bit carried away."

"Of course he will," Alice called over her shoulder from the top of the stairs. "I have seen him wearing them." She let out a shrill laugh before disappearing into her room to put her new clothes in her oversized wardrobe.

"Such confidence!" Jasper sighed and he got up to follow her. "Well, you never know, she may have got something for me?" He explained as he shrugged his shoulders and headed up the stairs.

I was keen to learn if Rosalie had uncovered anything, but I knew I would be in trouble if I didn't look at my parcels.

"Take them upstairs," Esme told me, "You don't want an audience, do you? You can have a look in private." She gave me a reassuring smile.

I was grateful for this, just in case they weren't to my liking. I wouldn't want to cause offence by showing disappointment.

I headed upstairs and began to unpack. I noticed that the clothes I had placed on the couch earlier had gone. Well, they were either in a laundry room somewhere or they had thrown them away, but who would have done it? Never mind, if they didn't reappear in a few days I would assume they had been thrown away.

I had plenty more now anyway, and of course they were ok, I had been right to trust Alice. There was a suit, half a dozen pairs of trousers, ten shirts; some formal and some casual, four polo shirts and a couple of jumpers. In the final bag were two pairs of shoes and some socks. How much had this lot cost? They all had the feel of quality about them. I wasn't really conscious of designer labels, but I didn't need a label to tell me they were expensive. What would I need a suit for? Oh well, never mind. I had only ever possessed one suit and that had been when I had to go to a wedding when I was about fifteen and my parents had insisted on it.

I began to put my new clothes away in the wardrobe when there was a knock on the door. "Mind if I come in?" Alice's cheerful voice sang from the other side of the door.

"Not at all, come on in," I replied.

"All ok?" she asked as she poked her head around the door.

"Yes thanks, lovely," I told her, "I really appreciate this Alice, it's very kind of you."

"You're welcome, I enjoy it, you may have noticed!" and then she was gone again.

I finished putting my new clothes away and headed downstairs, passing Esme on the way. I thanked her for her part in the shopping trip.

Esme smiled and assured me that it had been a pleasure.

I noticed happily that Rosalie was on her own now so I sat down beside her on the large sofa and nodding towards the computer I asked her if she had found anything.

"I have indeed," she crooned. Her face was so exquisitely beautiful when she smiled. It was breathtaking.

"But," she continued, "If you call me Auntie Rosalie I might have to kill you!"

"Really?" I asked, "We are related then?"

"Yes, I'll show you." And she opened the laptop and her fingers began to whiz over the keys. She pulled up a screen that looked like a family tree.

"Here," she pointed. "This is me." Her elegant finger moved across the screen. "I had a younger brother, well two actually, but this one, and she pointed at the name _Albert John Hale_ _born 15__th__ March 1920_ on the screen, had three sons. The eldest of them was also called Albert. He was your grandfather." Her finger was moving down the screen now, showing the relationship between my grandfather and me. I froze as I looked at the name on the screen _Albert William Hale born 27__th__ August 1942_. Without a doubt, that was my grandfather.

"Yes, my grandfather _is_ called Albert, well, everyone calls him Bert," I told her, slowly remembering my grandfather who I had only seen a few times. Our family had lost touch with its New York contingent when we had moved to Texas, my father never really bothering to keep the connection alive with him being away at sea such a lot. He had not really bothered rekindling it after we had moved to Boston. Not having been a close family it hadn't seemed important. There had been the occasional visit but it had all been a little bit stiff and formal, usually restricted to special occasions; weddings and funerals and the like. My grandfather had been at my graduation though. That was probably the last time I saw him.

"He's alive?" Rosalie asked.

"Yes, well, I assume so. At least he was the last time..." I trailed off as I tried to remember more about him, and with sadness, remembering the last time I had been with my family as a human. It occurred to me that I wouldn't know if he had died.

"So that makes me your Great-Great Aunt, I think," she was saying. "What a coincidence! Can you believe that?" And she leaned over and hugged me.

I was speechless with emotion. There was the sorrow I felt at remembering my real family, and yet the elation at the realisation that I had more reason to be here now other than just a desire to improve myself, I had family, real family! I was related, in the human world, to Rosalie. I had broken through her cool facade and she was hugging me, like the long-lost relative that I actually was.

"Amazing!" I exclaimed. "Wow!"

She pulled back now and glared at me, mockingly, "Don't even think about it, I'm warning you, if you call me Great Aunt Rose, I will, I'll do you some serious damage." But she was laughing.

The others had come back into the room now, presumably to see what the excitement was all about. I imagined it was unusual to haer Rosalie laughing so freely.

Emmett and Jasper were grinning. I guessed they already knew, having been at home earlier while Rosalie was doing her research. Edward would know too, wherever he was. I hadn't seen him since we came back, but he would know. Alice probably knew too, but it depended how pre-occupied she had been with her shopping and her new clothes; whether or she had given up a spare part of her thoughts to pick up on the general excitement in the household. She came dancing down the stairs now anyway, followed by Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle now stood closely behind his wife, his arms on her shoulders, on the bottom step.

Esme was looking expectantly at me for an announcement. "Well?" she asked, in her usual kind voice.

"We are related!"I announced, "Really, we are!"

Everyone seemed happy for us. They all gave us a hug before resuming their own business, attending to whatever they had been doing before the announcement. Emmett too warned me about a pain worse than death if I ever referred to him as Great Uncle Emmett.

Rosalie asked a barrage of questions about my Grandfather, had I ever met his father, what was he like? I told her that sadly I had never met him; he had died shortly before I was born. His wife had survived for a while after, but she died a few years ago. Rosalie wanted to know more about her. This would have been her sister-in-law had she not been made immortal at the age of nineteen. I couldn't help her much, but I tried to remember whatever I could. I had only met her a couple of times though. She was called Elizabeth, but was known as Bessie. We chatted for hours, well into the night.

I remembered another name from the past. It came to me suddenly, out of the blue "Rosalie? Was your other brother called George?" I asked her

"Yes, he was. My younger brother. Why?"

"Because I remember a few years ago, there was a family wedding, some distant cousin I had never met. Anyway, I remember an elderly man who was introduced to me as Uncle George, but no-one really explained the relationship and I didn't bother to question it either. I think I was about fifteen so I wasn't particularly interested in family, or old men who may, or not be, my uncle. I was more interested in one of the bridesmaids!"

I looked at Rosalie who was processing this information. "That was your brother then? Damn it! I wish I had paid him more attention now, but how was I to know this was going to happen?"

"It seems like it may have been," She was thoughtful now. Her eyes were darting from side to side like Alice's did when she was having a vision. Rosalie wasn't having a vision of the future though. She was remembering the past. "Is he still alive now?" She asked me.

I shook my head slowly, "Sorry Rosalie, I have no idea."

Edward reappeared briefly before going back to the cottage where Bella and Renesmee were waiting for him. After we had returned earlier he had run over to Charlie's house to meet up with Bella, telling Charlie that Alice had dropped him off. He couldn't bear to be away from Bella for too long. Jasper, Esme and Carlisle went out hunting. We were still talking when they returned. The others flitted in and out of the room, sometimes listening to our conversation, sometimes getting bored with it, flicking through the television channels before leaving the room again. I told her all about my immediate family in Galveston, Texas. She wanted to know everything, every little detail. Then she started to tell me about her family, her brothers mainly, but also her mother and father. They were our common relations, after all. The link between Rosalie and myself, sat side by side on one of the Cullen's large sofas, the same human age but yet separated by three generations. It was surreal.

When we seemed to have exhausted every avenue, she hugged me again and said "Thank you, thank you so much! You have made me so happy!"

We had no idea of the hours that had passed. Quite suddenly it was daylight again.


	15. Chapter 15 The Joke

**Chapter Fifteen**

** The Joke**

Later that morning Edward called in to the house to ask me if I could spare him a while. He apologised to Rosalie for tearing me away and then scolded her for monopolising their guest. She scowled at him and reminded him that normally she was in trouble for ignoring guests. Edward joked that ignoring guests would be an improvement and that it was her outright hostility that scared most people away. However, he refused to tell her what he needed me for.

"What's up?" I asked him when we were half way to the cottage and I calculated we were just about out of earshot.

"Oh." He grinned. "It's nothing really, I just enjoy winding Rosalie up," and he sniggered a little.

"Hey, that's my Great-Great Aunt Rosalie you are messing with!" I said in a disapproving tone.

Edward laughed. "If she knew you had just called her that it is you that will be in dire trouble," he reminded me.

I pretended to slit my throat. "So, all joking aside, what did you want me for?"

"Oh, we just want to try out your skill. I have a theory that it won't have any effect on Bella."

"Why?" I asked. I couldn't help it, there were just more questions. Every time one got answered another one popped up.

Edward reminded me of what he had told me the previous day, that Bella had an ability to shield her mind from outside influences. He was just curious, and wanted to test his theory. He asked me to extend my skill to include himself though, and also Renesmee. He didn't want a repeat of the disgusting nausea I had inflicted on him yesterday, nor did he wish such unpleasantness to affect his daughter.

"What about Jacob?" I asked, recognising the horrible wolf stench as we neared the cottage, indicating Jacob was there already.

"Oh, that's up to you, you can do what you like with Jacob," he laughed. "Ok, we are nearly there now, turn it on Will. Don't forget to extend it please."

Inside the cottage, Jacob looked like a giant. It was a smallish room, and he seemed to almost fill it. He had Renesmee in his arms and he was having to be extremely careful that she didn't bump into the walls or the ceiling as he swung her around in his strong arms. Squeals of delight filled the room as she encouraged him to continue. A fire crackled at one end of the room. Bella was sitting relaxed on the couch watching them, smiling.

The mood changed a little once they acknowledged our presence, but not as severely as it might have done, if I hadn't been using my skill, I concluded.

We greeted each other. Bella seemed friendly enough, extending a warm but shy smile. Jacob grunted. Renesmee flashed a brilliant smile, "Hi William," she sang. I was concentrating on including Edward and Renesmee, but not the others. It was hard, because Renesmee was still in Jacob's arms. Jacob was looking confused, his brows knitted together as he was trying to focus on something. They presumably hadn't discussed my skill with him and he was wondering why he hadn't detected me.

Edward was eyeing Bella cautiously. Bella shook her head "No, nothing," she confirmed. Edward seemed pleased. His experiment had been successful, confirming his theory; Bella was indeed immune to my skill.

Jacob was sniffing the air around him now, presumably concerned that he had lost his sense of smell. Bella was finding it amusing too now, seeming to be pleased that we had this private joke that he was not a party to. Jacob squinted at Edward who gave him an innocent shrug. Then he looked at Bella who was staring at the floor trying not to laugh. Then his eyes rested on me.

"Huh?" Jacob protested, eventually realising that whatever it was that was amiss, was something that we all knew about. He flopped down on the other couch now and crossed his arms with another grunt, still glaring at me. Renesmee cuddled into him. I had to really concentrate hard now to separate my skill from her and Jacob. It was especially hard to do while I was trying to maintain an innocent smile. I didn't dare speak for fear of disrupting my concentration.

Edward decided to put him out of his misery and explained my skill, what I was doing and how I was using it to cover the both of us and Renesmee and that Bella appeared to be immune to it. He asked him what he could detect.

"Nothing," Jacob snorted, "I can't detect either of you two blood-suckers today."

"Excellent," Edward replied.

I was taken aback by the term that Jacob used to describe us, but then I remembered the inborn natural hatred his kind felt for our kind, and reminded myself that the truce was only in place because he had _imprinted_ on the daughter of a _blood-sucker_. It was a delicate knife-edge situation, I reminded myself of Edward's words yesterday.

"Actually, I prefer it," He declared, with a bit of a grin. Then he was laughing. "It's much nicer not to be able to notice you."

"But you can still smell Bella?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, but her smell is never quite so bad as the rest of you," Jacob replied, still smiling, and he now looked at Bella as he said "Bella is just Bella."

Edward then asked me to include Bella in the shield and Jacob confirmed that he could no longer smell Bella.

"Hmmm, interesting." Edward was fascinated. "Actually Jacob, when William is using his skill it dampens down our senses and so there isn't such a revolting mutt smell in here at the moment." Now it was his turn to laugh.

Renesmee smiled at Jacob and told him she didn't think he smelled bad.

I had to be honest, I was in agreement with Edward. The wolf stench wasn't nearly so bad. I wondered how many vampires I could include. If I could cover the whole family then being in the same room as Jacob might not be so offensive for anyone. It might even soften Rosalie.

I was summarising it in my head. It seemed that if I unleashed my power on a vampire or a human, it repulsed them to the degree that they couldn't even bear to look at me, Bella excepted. If I unleashed it on a wolf, it had the opposite effect; in that it made it bearable for them to be in my presence. I was quite pleased with myself. This was quite a cool skill to have after all!

Jacob was obviously thinking along similar lines, "Hey, do you think you could stick around for a while?" he asked me, "It kind of makes you blood-suckers seem ok." He was visibly more relaxed than he had been. He even smiled at me and winked. It seemed that I had inadvertently found a way of winning Jacob over too.

Renesmee, who had been listening to the exchange, probably storing up a million questions for later, was now asking Jacob to swing her around some more. He obeyed immediately and the shrieks of laughter once more filled the cottage.

I stayed for a while, enjoying the light-hearted atmosphere in the cottage now that Jacob was seemingly not regarding me as a threat, and was just thinking maybe I should leave when suddenly Edward asked "What do you mean Jacob?"

He had obviously picked up on something that had been going through Jacob's mind.

"Well, why not?" Jacob replied.

Edward considered Jacob's proposal for a while and then agreed that it might be worth a try.

Bella asked the obvious question that had been on my lips too, scolding the pair of them for having a private conversation. "It's rude!" she protested. "I'm used to it, but what will our guest think!"

"I'm sorry love," Edward apologised. "Jacob was just wondering if Will would be able to apply his skill to cover us around Leah, to enable her to accept us a little more comfortably."

Edward then explained to me that Leah was the only female wolf in the pack and also the only one who was still finding it extremely difficult to be anywhere near us, making it awkward. Partly it was Leah's sheer hatred of us, but maybe if we didn't smell of vampires it might help.

"She's a total pain anyway," Jacob volunteered "I'd kind of like to get one over on her, take her by surprise." And with this he gave off a wicked grin.

"I agree Jacob, but I don't want to make it any kind of game where Leah is concerned Jacob. She doesn't trust us."

"I don't trust you!" Jacob protested, but he was laughing.

"Well you ought to by now, but I think what I really meant was that I do not believe Leah has your sense of humour."

"You can say that again!" Jacob confirmed and then he looked at me and told me, "She's a real pain in the back-side!"

"It has to be managed delicately, not as a joke, understand?" Edward continued.

Jacob and Edward then started hatching a plan that would bring Leah closer to the cottage. It was going to be tricky because once Jacob phased, Leah would be able to read his thoughts and this would take away any element of surprise and she might not come. Jacob reckoned he could handle it by focusing on something else, hence blocking her out. The eventual plan involved Leah's young and co-operative brother Seth being used to draw Leah closer. Seth would be only to pleased to take part in anything that helped the Cullens, and especially if it involved making his sister more tolerant of them. Jacob was going to shoot off now to find Seth and bring him up to speed. Renesmee wanted to go with him but Bella shook her head promising her Jacob wouldn't be long.

"You pwomise Jacob?" She asked him.

"Yes, I promise, Nessie" he assured her and then he kissed her on the forehead and vanished. I was just able to observe him phasing as he ran off into the trees.

Renesmee pouted for a little while after Jacob had left, but I managed to distract her by asking her to read me a story. There was a pile of books on the table by the television set and I told her to pick her favourite. I looked at Bella for approval, which I received with a smile. Renesmee didn't hesitate. She pulled one out from the middle of the pile and brought it over to me and I was amused at the title "The sleeping Beauty." It was my sister's favourite too. I wasn't sure if she was actually reading it, or if she knew the words off by heart, but she certainly seemed to be turning the pages in the right place. The book had writing on the left-hand page and a picture on the right. She explained each picture to me before each page was turned.

Renesmee had a peculiar scent. I didn't find it hard to be near her, even though I could smell the human blood, and hear the human heart-beat. Aside from her being a child and therefore inconceivable that I could harm her, there was enough of a vampire scent to confuse the human scent. Also, apart from anything else, she was just so adorable and charming.

The story came to an end. She proceeded to show me a series of images from her own memories, holding her hot little hand up to my forehead like she had done the day before. Most of them were of Bella, Edward and Jacob, the usual adoring family images that humans filled their photo albums with. There was also one of Rosalie holding her as a baby. The last one was of a tall thin dark-haired girl standing by the river that flowed near the Cullen mansion with her arms folded and her face scowling. She would have looked quite attractive if she wasn't so clearly angry about something. I looked at Edward to see if he was paying attention. He hadn't been, but he was now, "Leah Clearwater," he explained. I had thought it probably was, but I had been seeking confirmation. I could tell from her tan skin that she was probably one of the Quileutes and since Renesmee had been listening to our discussion earlier it seemed likely that she would show me a picture of Leah.

"What is she angry about?" I asked.

"Everything!" Edward replied with his crooked grin.

Bella shot him a bit of a reproachful look and began to explain that Leah had a lot of issues, especially since she had lost the love of her life, which she had never really gotten over, and not only that, she had a real deep-seated hatred for vampires.

Edward described her as the Rosalie of the Werewolf world, only a hundred times worse. I was beginning to get the picture. I remembered the way Jacob spoke about her earlier and decided she probably wasn't much liked by the wolves either.

"No, she's not." Edward confirmed. "They have to tolerate her because she is one of their kind, but they all despise her." I suddenly remembered Edward's words when he had been telling me about the newborn battle. It must have been Leah that had attacked the one we assumed was Diego, the solitary newborn who had appeared when the fight had been over. Leah, the only female wolf, "not nearly as strong as she thinks she is," he had said scathingly.

"What about Seth? Isn't he the one who helped you defeat Victoria?" I asked.

"Yes, Seth is entirely different, just the opposite of Leah. He is friendly and jovial, however, his vampire-loving tendencies cause a lot of friction for him at home."

"So that's why Jacob has come up with this idea?" I asked.

"Well, no, not entirely, Jacob sees it more as playing a trick on her, but we see it as an opportunity to help her relax in our company." Edward explained.

"Which, in turn, will help Seth," Bella added.

Renesmee asked me if I wanted her to read another story but Edward said we ought to put in an appearance at the house, reminding me that Alice would be furious with me if I didn't change in to some of the new clothes she had bought for me yesterday.


	16. Chapter 16 Foolish

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Foolish**

When we got back to the house I was able to sneak upstairs. No-one appeared to be around. I noticed that rather curiously, the dirty clothes that I had left out the day before were neatly folded on the couch, clean and pressed, so presumably someone did laundry? Maybe they had house-elves like the wizard families in Harry Potter? I laughed at myself for coming up with this ridiculous idea and changed into some of the clothes Alice had bought for me, leaving the others on the couch. It was then that I noticed a linen basket had been placed near the door, so I put them in there instead, hoping this was the correct procedure and reminded myself that I really needed to have that quiet word with Esme about housekeeping. I headed downstairs. Edward, Bella and Renesmee were in the living room watching television.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Carlisle is probably at the hospital, but I don't know about the others," Edward told me. "I can't hear their thoughts so they must be out somewhere."

"Well we might as well go back to our cottage then, we only came to be sociable," Bella suggested. "Jake should be back soon."

Just as we were about to head off Alice and Esme returned in Alice's car. They didn't know where the others were either. Alice told us that Rosalie's car was missing from the garage and also Emmett's Jeep. Alice chided herself for not paying attention and now set about concentrating on her thoughts, having complimented me on the clothes I was wearing. I was glad to see she had noticed after I had made the special effort.

"It's probably nothing to worry about," Esme reassured us "but it is odd that they haven't gone together, Rose and Emmett, I mean," not that we had been unduly worried. It was quite normal for the Cullen vampires to be out during the day.

"Where did _you_ go?" Edward asked her.

"Oh, need you guess. Alice forgot something yesterday!" Esme replied, laughing, "She also picked up some contacts..."

"Shhhhh," Alice interrupted, "I'm getting something."

We all looked at her expectantly now. She was looking concerned.

"Oh no!"

"What?" All of us asked together.

"Rose has gone to Rochester to try and find her brother," Alice told us. "Emmett and Jasper have gone after her. Rose left Emmett a note."

Silence fell about the room.

"Where are they now?" Edward asked.

"Rose is on a flight. She found his address on the internet and she is going straight there when the plane lands. She is going to get a taxi from the airport."

Alice looked alarmingly at Edward and he shook his head. "No, I don't think there is anything _we_ can do. Not now anyway. Where are the others, can you see?"

Alice delved into her mind again, her alert eyes darting left to right. "They are still at the airport, Seattle I think, yes, it's Seattle. They are waiting for the next flight. It will leave in half an hour." And she darted to the table where she had left her keys and her cell phone and began punching a number into the phone. Then she was speaking to Jasper, giving him the address she had seen in Rosalie's mind as she had sat looking at it on the plane.

"Yes, I saw that," she was telling Jasper, "yes, no clues, but now you have it...yes...love you too...bye!"

She hung up. "Ok, now at least they have the address. Rose's note told them where she was going and not to follow her but deliberately she hadn't given them the address."

I was a little freaked out. Not just by Rosalie's intentions, but by the amount of detail Alice had been able to _see_. She really was extraordinary.

"There is nothing more we can do Alice," Edward told her.

"Of all the stupid ideas Rose has had, this has got to be the dumbest one yet!" Alice snorted.

I was silent. I felt partly responsible for this. I had positively put this thought into Rosalie's head by telling her about her brother's appearance at a family wedding. Why did I have to mention it? She hadn't asked me about her brother. It would have been better if I had said nothing, not given her any encouragement.

"Don't blame yourself for this," Edward told me. "How were you to know? How were any of us to know? If anyone is to blame it is me for not reading her thoughts. If we had come here earlier I would have been able to see her forming this foolhardy plan and we could have prevented it."

"No-one is to blame." Esme said calmly. "But I need to get hold of Carlisle and tell him."

Alice held out her phone to Esme.

Esme shook her head, "I'll use the phone in his office, that way he will know it's important. If you'll excuse me?" and Esme vanished upstairs.

Alice slumped down onto one of the sofas with her head in her hands, a very human posture. She was shaking her head. She looked up now with anguish in her eyes, "If I hadn't been so preoccupied with my shopping I might have seen this coming. It is my fault."

"It is no-one's fault," Esme's voice reminded us from the top of the stairs. "Carlisle will be home soon. He's leaving in a few minutes. It's been a quiet day for him so he was going to knock off early anyway." She glided swiftly down the stairs and sat next to Alice, comforting her. "We must all stay calm. As Edward says, there is nothing we can do and worrying isn't going to help. Jasper and Emmett will be on the next flight. Leave it to them to sort it out."

"I wish Jasper had phoned me. I wonder why he didn't?" Alice looked confused now.

"He probably assumed you would know," Edward told her.

She nodded. "Oh yeah, I suppose. It never occurs to anyone that I am not always paying attention."

Alice's phone rang. She jumped up to answer it. And just as quickly, after a brief conversation, she sat down again. "They are just about to board the flight. They will call again when they land. For the moment, we just have to wait."

What was Rosalie playing at I wondered. How could she possibly turn up on her brother's doorstep and announce that she was his long-lost sister. Aside from the obvious repercussions with the Volturi if she exposed us, there was the distinct possibility that, assuming the old man was still alive, and he believed her, he might keel over with shock. She could kill him. I did the math in my head and worked out he had to be almost ninety. Of course he probably would believe it was her. No doubt she looked similar to when she had disappeared, more beautiful maybe, but he would know it was her. How would she explain it to him? The explanation could send him into shock if the vision of her standing in front of him didn't.

I remembered the visit I had made to my family in Texas not so long ago. I also remembered how hard it had been to tear myself away. Rosalie hadn't seen her brother for almost eighty years. What would it take for her to tear herself away after all that time?

"Alice?" I asked.

She swung around to look at me.

"How much detail can you see? I mean, do you know for sure that she is actually going to look him up to speak to him, or is she just going to observe?"

"I'm sorry, I can't tell. At the moment all I see is her imagining an old man and mulling over the address in her head. Her intentions aren't clear. I will know if she makes any definite decisions. She hasn't decided herself yet, I guess."

"Has anyone tried phoning her?" Bella asked.

"Yes," Alice told her, "Jasper told me that Emmett tried but she didn't answer."

Poor Emmett would be beside himself I thought.

"Have you got a cell phone Will?" Bella asked me.

I shook my head. "Until recently I didn't have any friends I would want to call."

"We will sort one out for you," Esme told me, "not that it helps us at the moment. What were you thinking Bella?"

"Well, I was just thinking she might not recognise the number and she may answer it. She won't answer if one of us calls her. If anyone can talk her out of it, William ought to be able to. He is her new best friend after all." She smiled at me to show there was no malice intended with the latter statement.

"Ok," Esme said, thinking it over, "Alice, phone Carlisle and ask him to pick up a cell phone on his way home. If you hurry, you may catch him. It is worth a try. She might listen to him."

Alice obeyed. After a brief conversation Alice hung up and told us, "Yes, Carlisle was just leaving. He will pick one up."

It was an anxious wait. Alice kept darting in and out of her thoughts. Nothing had changed much. Rosalie's flight would be landing soon and then a decision may be made. Jasper and Emmett were on another flight now, a couple of hours behind her. A couple of hours might be too late.

Carlisle returned and confirmed what Esme had told us, that it was no-one's fault and worrying wouldn't help. He handed me the cell phone he had picked up on the way. It was nothing special, it was all he could get at such short notice, he explained apologetically.

It was considerably better than the last one I had owned. But this one had a job to do. I unwrapped it eagerly, and casting the box aside, I noticed it had already been activated and charged. That was curious?

"I charged it in the car on the way." Carlisle explained. "It will need charging fully later but there should be enough for you to make that call. I put the card in it for you so it is ready to go."

"Wait a minute," Alice interjected, "Rose is still in the airport. Wait until she gets a cab."

I thanked Carlisle for the phone and waited for my prompt, feeling slightly anxious about the enormity of the task that was ahead of me. What was I going to say to her? I didn't have time to dwell on it for long.

"Ok, now William, she is in a cab and she has given him the address."

"Has she made a decision?"

"No, she can't make up her mind what to do."

"Ok, what is her number?"

Carlisle told me he had already programmed it in. I checked, noticing that he had programmed all their numbers in. I scrolled down until I reached Rosalie and then pressed the single speed dial button, a short wait and then it was ringing. I waited patiently for her to answer.

"She's looking at the phone trying to decide whether to answer it," Alice told me. "She is puzzled. She doesn't know the number."

A soft voice suddenly said "Hello?"

"Rosalie, its William, don't hang up."

A long silence and then she finally said, "Ok," cautiously.

"Look Rose, I understand what you are doing, but please don't do anything hasty. By all means, take a look, watch him from outside the house, but please don't let him see you. It could kill him, the shock of it."

"I haven't decided what I am going to do yet. I don't even know if he is still alive."

"Well, if you find him alive, please Rosalie, think of what it could do to him. Think of what it could do to all of us if you expose us, our existence."

There was silence from the other end. Had she hung up? No, I could still hear background traffic noise.

"Rose?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still here," she eventually replied.

"Well?" I insisted.

"Ok, I am just going to find the address and see if he is still alive for now."

"Promise?"

"For now, yes." She told me, she sounded a little curt.

"And will you call me back if you find out anything please?" and then it occurred to me, "unless you would rather speak to anyone else?"

"No, I wouldn't thanks, no-one else will understand."

"Well, like I said, I do understand, and I will trust you for now not to approach him?"

"Ok, I'll call you if I have any news, to talk through the next step."

"There can't be a next step Rose. You have to come home, you cannot approach him. Please?"

More silence.

I looked around the room. Six pairs of eyes were staring anxiously at me. Yes, even Renesmee was staring at me. My eyes rested on Renesmee. Bella began whispering in her ear. I think Bella and I had suddenly formed a similar plan, as it dawned on me what Bella was doing, she was whispering instructions to Renesmee.

At that moment, Renesmee sidled over and took the phone from my outstretched hand.I gave her an encouraging smile.

"Auntie Wose?" she said in her beautiful child's voice.

"Pwease come home. I miss you. Pwease. Don't do anything silly Auntie Wose."

We couldn't hear if Rosalie was replying, but how could she refuse to talk to such an adorable child, how could she ignore her plea? Suddenly, Renesmee's eyes lit up and she said, "Ok Auntie Wose, I will. I love you too," and she handed the phone back to me, smiling.

"Aunt Wose is coming home tomowow," she announced to us all gleefully and began dancing around the room.

I put the phone back to my ear but it was dead.

"Thank you William, nicely handled," Carlisle said. "All we can do now is wait."

At least maybe we had bought a bit more time. I wasn't entirely convinced that Rosalie wouldn't change her mind and decide to pay the old man a visit, but at least she had promised she would just observe him for now, and maybe she would stall long enough for Emmett and Jasper to catch up with her. Alice was watching herclosely to check for a change in her plans, so we would deal with that problem if it arose. For now, as Carlisle had said, all we could do was wait.


	17. Chapter 17 Agonising

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Agonising**

Afternoon had turned in to evening. It was dark outside now. It was an anxious few hours, waiting for Rosalie to call. It was Alice's phone that rang first, making us all jump. It was just Jasper explaining that they had landed and were in a cab in pursuit of Rosalie. Alice relayed the details of my call to her and how she had told Renesmee that she would be coming home the next day. Jasper would call again when they got to the address.

This wasn't really news for us, Alice had already been able to see this. She had told us when Jasper's flight had landed. She could also see that Rosalie, for the moment was just observing, as promised. She had decided she would have to wait until the morning to see if it was her brother in the house.

My phone rang. The display flashed up that it was Rosalie. Who else would it be? No-one else had the number.

"Hi Rose," I answered, trying to keep my voice calm. "Any news?"

"No, not yet. I have reached the address, but I can't tell who is inside the house. I am going to have to wait until morning."

"And once you have found out, you are coming straight home?" I asked.

She hesitated. I understood how hard it would be for her.

"Rose, I do understand." I reminded her comfortingly, "But you must."

"Yes, yes, ok," and then there was a slight pause before I heard her groan and she asked, "But why have you sent Emmett and Jasper after me? They are just getting out of a cab further down the street. Don't you trust me?"

"I didn't send them, they had already left the house before I returned. They were already at the airport. Of course we trust you."

She seemed annoyed now. Maybe she knew the decision she had been about to make had been taken out of her hands.

"Ok, speak later," she told me with a sigh and then hung up.

"Emmett and Jasper have arrived," I told the family. I assured them that she had done nothing as yet, that she had decided to wait until morning. I was aware I was only repeating what Alice had seen in her visions, but it seemed necessary to fill the room with words, since no-one else was speaking. It broke the silence.

Another event broke the silence shortly afterwards. Jacob entered, along with another of the Quileutes, a much younger lad, tall but not as impressively muscular as Jacob. He had a much friendlier face though. His smile seemed to stretch from one side of his face to the other. This had to be Seth.

I quickly turned on my skill and found I was able to easily include the whole family, well those that were present anyway. I would explain to them later what I was doing, Jacob nodded at me, he knew what I had done, and he was grateful. He now strode into the room, a huge warm smile breaking across his face and headed straight for Renesmee and gave her a hug. Seth came over to me, shook my hand and introduced himself, "iI, I'm Seth Clearwater. Nice to meet you Will."

"Er, we were just going to take Renesmee back to the cottage. She is getting tired," Bella told him.

"I've been waiting for you at the cottage for over an hour," Jacob scowled.

"Sorry Jake, there has been a bit of a family crisis," Bella continued as she noticed Jacob scanning the room, presumably assessing who might be at the centre of the crisis, "It's Rosalie, she has gone off to New York on some half-crazed whim to find her brother."

"Huh," Jacob snorted. "I might have known it would be dumb blonde air-head. What about our plans? I've brought Seth along especially."

I wondered absent-mindedly if he would be quite so annoyed had it had been anyone else.

"I don't mind," Seth said cheerily. "We can try another night."

"Let's go back to the cottage," Edward suggested, "We can fill you in on what has happened and you can help put Renesmee to bed. Will, can you inform the family what we had planned?"

"Sure," I nodded.

"Come on Bella," he looked at her anxiously, "really love, there is nothing we can do here now."

Bella glanced at Alice, presumably looking for an update. Alice assured her nothing had changed. Then she scooped the tired Renesmee up in her arms and headed for the door, along with her husband and the two wolves. Alice assured her she would let them know if a decision was made.

Silence filled the large room once more as we waited for news. I was aware I was supposed to be telling them what Jacob's plans had been but no-one had asked, they were all a little pre-occupied with staring at Alice's phone. It was eventually Carlisle who remembered and asked me to explain.

I summarised the plan, not wanting to distract them for too long. I explained how my skill worked, and how I had included the whole family earlier when Jacob and Seth joined us. They acknowledged that they had noticed a slight reduction in the wolf-stench and also that Jacob had appeared to be less hesitant to enter the room. They also liked the idea that it might have some effect on Leah's attitude. "She's the only one who still stares at us like we are evil." Carlisle agreed. He was happy for us to go ahead with it as long as we were careful not to antagonise her any further. I assured him we would be delicate. I was aware of the complexity of the situation.

Alice's phone rang, interrupting the discussion about Leah.

Alice said nothing. She was listening to Jasper's account of something that had obviously happened. She was nodding intently and muttering the occasional, "u-huh", just to let Jasper know she understood and was still paying attention.

We all anxiously waited for her to hang up, and then listened intently while she explained that Jasper and Emmett had been unable to persuade Rose to leave the scene voluntarily and that she had made no attempt to approach the house. They had decided against forcibly removing her, although they would if it became absolutely necessary.

I wondered how they would be able to do that without creating a commotion. For the moment there was no need, however.

There was no need because Rosalie's brother was seriously ill. They had been waiting outside the house and a doctor had turned up. A care nurse had opened the door to let him in. A short while later another care nurse had turned up to change shifts with the first one. Rosalie had approached her as she was leaving the house, assuring Jasper and Emmett that she only want to ask her a few questions; that she would give nothing away. They had remained at a watchful distance, listening to the conversation, ready to rush in if necessary.

Rosalie had told the care nurse that she was a great niece of Mr Hale and had heard that he was ill. The care nurse confirmed that she recognised Rosalie from one of the photos on Mr Hale's bedroom dresser, so she believed her, although she had been a little confused because the photo had been an old black and white. Rosalie had explained that the photo had been taken in "period" costume and it had been aged to make it look authentic. The care nurse accepted this explanation. She wasn't supposed to discuss a client's health with anyone but since Rose was family she was sure it would be ok.

Mr Hale was dying and was drifting in and out of consciousness. It was fortunate that Rose had turned up now as it was unlikely he would last through the night. This might be her last chance to say goodbye to him. The care nurse would take Rosalie up to him if that was what she wanted. Rosalie had hesitated, calling Emmett over to discuss. Emmett had reluctantly agreed, as long as he could go in with her. He had, of course, overheard the entire conversation in any case, so he had been prepared for what Rose might ask. Jasper had overheard too, so there was no need for Emmett to explain to him.

The care nurse had gone back inside the house, asking Rose and Emmett to wait in the hall while she spoke to the doctor. Jasper was still able to hear the conversation. Eventually the doctor had appeared, confirming Mr Hale's critical current state of health and had agreed that Rose could see him. He had warned her that Mr Hale was very frail and may not be conscious enough to recognise her.

"That's it for now!" Alice proclaimed. "Jasper is going to monitor the situation, but he feels sure that Rose won't do anything stupid. Emmett is with her just to make sure. He will update us again soon but he doesn't think it is unreasonable to allow Rose to see her brother before he passes on."

"Thank you Alice," Carlisle said as he stood up, just to ensure he had everyone's attention I think. "I agree, things have changed somewhat and I don't consider it can do any harm. Rose's brother is a dying man, and if he does recognise Rose, he is unlikely to have the mental capacity to ask any questions. If he does question it, even if Rose has to explain, I am sure she will be delicate about it, she will think of something to soften the blow, and her brother will not live long enough to expose us. I see no danger in allowing this." He glanced at Esme first, then Alice and myself, looking for confirmation, or objection.

We all nodded. It did seem reasonable. "Poor Rose," Esme whispered.

Carlisle vanished to let Edward and Bella know what was happening and what had been agreed. They returned with him a few minutes later. They weren't needed at the cottage. Jacob and Seth were there to keep an eye on Renesmee. They would rather be here for the next update.

We didn't have to wait long before Alice gave us the next update. It wasn't prompted by a phone call from Jasper this time, it was one of her own visions that made her jump up, an alarmed look on her face.

Edward stiffened, reading her thoughts.

"What is it? What is wrong?" Carlisle asked her, being the spokesperson for us all.

"It's Rosalie, I have seen a vision of her looking at her brother and wanting to change him into one of us before it is too late. Emmett is trying to reason with her."

Alice's phone rang. Jasper. He had overheard the conversation taking place in the room upstairs. "Yes, we know, I have seen it," Alice was telling him. "No, let Emmett handle it. Jasper, no, you can't go in there….yes, I know…..yes, of course…..I know, but you have to keep out of it."

A long silence while she was just listening to him and then, "Yeah, I miss you too, bye."

Carlisle was thinking about the medical possibility of what Rosalie was suggesting, discussing it in whispered tones with Edward. Alice was glaring at them, aware of the alarm that Jasper was feeling, but they were ignoring her for the moment, appearing far more interested in the complications of transforming a ninety year old man into a vampire and wondering if he would survive the ordeal, wondering what his quality of immortal life would be.

Suddenly they became aware of Alice's anguish and halted their ramblings, discarding the idea as foolish. Interesting, but foolish and not only that, there was the small matter of the body that would inevitably be missed by someone.

Another phone call, Jasper again. "Carlisle," Alice said, holding the phone out to him, "Jasper has Rosalie with him, she wants to talk to you."

He took a deep breath, he knew what this would be about; we all did.

We listened while Carlisle discussed his theories with her, concluding that he had no idea what the outcome would be, he could give no guarantees, he had never heard of anyone changing a person of such an age. He was very sorry, but she must not think of it any more, she should say goodbye to him and come home. Yes, of course there was a slight possibility that it could work, but it was minimal. Think of the pain it would put him through and also, how would she explain the missing body?

Bella asked to speak to her. Bella? How could Bella help?

"Rosalie?" Bella asked, making sure she was still on the other end of the phone.

"Hi, yes, we are all feeling so very sorry for you…..yes, I know it must be hard…..Yes, I did have something to say. I wanted to remind you of your warning to me, before I was changed. Why you thought I was making the wrong decision; how you wished you had been given a choice, how you regretted your immortal life…yes, I know he's an old man…..yes, it is slightly different, but let him go Rose. Say goodbye and let him go, in peace. Think of how you would feel, how you did feel. Just think about it...ok, yes…I'll put you back to Carlisle now."

And she handed the phone back. "Thank you," Edward whispered to her. That might just work."

"I don't know," Bella replied. "She's not thinking straight."

"You did your best," Edward told her, putting his arm around her and comforting her.

"Rosalie, you must stop this," Carlisle was saying. "No, I am not coming to do anything, I won't be responsible for what might happen. I won't put him through it. Rosalie?...Rosalie?"

Carlisle shrugged. She had hung up. He returned the phone to Alice. "I don't think she will attempt anything," Carlisle assured us. "In any case, Emmett is going back inside with her. He won't allow her to attempt it herself and I have refused point blank to assist."

Alice shrugged. "I can't see. Her thoughts are too jumbled." She sat down again with a dejected look on her face.

I couldn't begin to imagine what Rosalie was going through. I could understand the desperate attempt to hang on to her brother's life. She had only just discovered he was alive, and now he was dying. She had arrived too late. However, had she arrived and found him in good health, she would not have been able to see him. It would have been too risky. At least now she could say goodbye to him.

This was the best way, to say goodbye with respect and civility, and to allow him to pass on, knowing you had been there for his dying moments. Rosalie would be able to see that if she really stopped to think about it. The problem was, her judgement was temporarily impaired with grief and sorrow.

"He recognised her." Carlisle suddenly broke the silence. "Rose said he knew who she was. He was semi-conscious, but he had opened his eyes and had spoken her name."

Carlisle sat down again, his head in his hands, deep in thought. Esme sat beside him, comforting him, "You did the right thing Carlisle, you always do."

"But it is so very hard for her. We all need to show her a lot of compassion over this, when she returns." He looked around to make sure we all understood. "I hope she will forgive me, in time," He added.

"Of course she will," Esme told him. "She will see you were right, once she really thinks about it."

It was a long night. I could have done with hunting but I couldn't leave the family. I strangely felt part of it, even though I was a relative stranger. I had been thrown into the thick of a family crisis and felt the bond of the family already, the respect they all showed for Carlisle, the grief and despair they all felt for Rosalie.

Jasper phoned a couple of times just to let us know that nothing had changed. Rosalie and Emmett were still inside. We assumed now that Rosalie would not emerge until her brother had passed. It must be hard for Jasper too. So close but yet not close enough to help. His calming influence would be able to help Rosalie once the drama was over.

It was close to daybreak when Jasper's phone call announced that a grief-struck Rosalie had emerged from the house with Emmett. It was over. The doctor had pronounced her brother dead. Rosalie had been with him right up until the end, holding his hand. She had, at last, agreed with Carlisle's reasoning and had decided to let him go peacefully.

They would be heading back soon. Rosalie was just discussing funeral arrangements with the doctor. No doubt close family would be informed and would arrive soon to take over. Emmett had told the doctor that Rosalie had not been in touch with her family for a long time and was therefore not the one to make arrangements. It should be left to the immediate family. The doctor had kindly agreed to let Emmett know when it would be. He had left his number with the doctor but had asked him not to give it to any of the family members due to the rift that had formed over the years. The doctor hadn't appeared to be suspicious at all.

I could sense the relief lifting as Alice had been recounting the detail of Jasper's phone call. It was over. Rosalie was returning to the family and had decided to leave her brother in peace. There would be no further drama. I think we were all a little apprehensive about Rosalie coming back though, it was going to be a quiet few days, and it would be hard for her to adjust to normality again. She would be grieving. I suspect the whole family would grieve with her. That was what families did, and I was part of a family now.


	18. Chapter 18 Complications

**Chapter Eighteen**

** Complications**

Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper boarded the mid-morning flight back to Seattle. Rosalie was a bit of a wreck so Emmett asked if someone would pick up her car from the airport. They didn't really want her driving back. This seemed a bit over-humanised. I wondered if they sometimes actually believed they were human. I was fairly sure that Rosalie was capable of driving a car with her eyes shut, as indeed any of us were, however I volunteered along with the others, feeling pretty sure I wouldn't be picked; being the newcomer I was not likely to be trusted with Rosalie's baby. To my surprise, it was agreed that Alice would drive me to the airport, because she was eager to be reunited with Jasper, and this would give Rosalie and Emmet a bit of time together on the way back in Emmett's Jeep. I was to drive back in Rosalie's M3.

Alice finally got around to giving me the contacts she had picked up for me on her shopping trip before all the drama had unfolded. After a bit of a struggle, and some help from Bella, I finally managed to insert them into the correct position. It was a good job I wasn't human or I would have shredded my eyeballs. I was pleased with my reflection in the mirror, I looked a lot more human.

We arrived at the airport just as the three of them exited the main doors, Perfect timing. Was it coincidence or was Alice actually a genius? Rosalie's face lit up momentarily when she saw me, which pleased me. I was afraid she would be blaming me for putting ideas into her head. I hugged her and apologised.

"William, I..." she trailed off.

"I know Rose, it must have been awful, I feel your pain, really I do," I told her.

"I have things to tell you..."

Emmett interrupted, "Later Rose, come on, let's get going. I am taking Rose up to Alaska to the Denali coven for a few days. She isn't ready to face the family yet," he explained as he handed me the keys to Rosalie's car. Rosalie didn't bat an eyelid at the keys to her baby being handed over.

We said our goodbye's and Rosalie and Emmett headed off to find Emmett's Jeep. There was something in the back of my mind about the Denali coven but I couldn't remember what it was. I was concerned for Rose right now. She looked broken. She was in pain. However, I knew Emmett would take care of her, and she would return feeling better no doubt. A complete break would do her some good.

Alice squeezed me into the back seat of her Porsche and we went in search of Rosalie's car. "You had better be careful with it," Jasper warned me. "When Rosalie is recovered from this the first thing she will do is check her car for scratches.

"Thanks Jasper!" I retorted, "Thanks for reminding me of that. I am fully aware of the responsibility." And we all laughed, the first time for several hours.

Boy this car was fast. What had she done to it? Edward had told me that she regularly fine-tuned it. She obviously knew what she was doing. It was easily as fast as Edward's Aston Martin, and just as responsive. I had to admit, I was having fun. All the agonising of the last twenty four hours seemed to vanish. This was just the tonic I needed. I had to keep reminding myself that if I damaged this car I would die! I also felt slightly guilty for enjoying myself in this time of grief.

On the way back I remembered what had been niggling me about the Denali coven too. It was when I had been in Anchorage with Steve and Shelly, they had told me they had received a visit from a yellow-eyed coven based in Denali. So these Vampires were presumably friends of the Cullens. I would have to ask about them when I got a chance. More questions!

I got back, without damaging Rosalie's car, just seconds after Alice and Jasper, who had taken a slightly different route. They obviously knew a short cutas I was sure I had been going way faster than they would have been. Alice eyed me suspiciously while Jasper pretended to inspect the car as I was backing it into the garage.

"Satisfied?" I asked him.

He grinned. "Yeah, it will do."

We walked into the house together.

All the family were there, even Jacob and Seth had remained and seemed to join in the concern for Rosalie. Jacob asked me if I would mind using my skill to help him breath. I obliged, ensuring all the vampires and the half-vampire were covered.

"That's better," he commented. "The blood-sucker stench was unbearable. Besides, you need the practice. Tonight we are going to use it on Leah."

"Tonight, I need to hunt," I told them. "I was bricking it at the airport in case I came into any human contact."

"Of course," Esme said apologetically. "We should never have put you in that situation William. You are so mature we forget you are new to this. Please, accept our apologies."

I did. I smiled at her and assured her I was ok, but I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. It was not safe for me to be around humans until I had hunted. Her concern touched me though, as always, and I was genuinely pleased that she considered me mature.

"That's fine. We can combine it with our plans. I will hunt with you if that's ok?" Jacob asked.

"Er, yeah, I suppose so, if you think that's a good idea?" I wasn't sure I thought it was a good idea. A vampire and a werewolf out hunting together. What if we got confused?

"Oh I go out hunting with Bella quite often," Jacob bragged.

"Yes," Edward interjected, "But we all know Bella is a bit different, for you anyway. Are you sure you can handle it Jacob. Can you control yourself?"

"Sure I can," he replied with a grin. "Seth will be with me anyway."

Now I was going hunting with two werewolves. I was feeling more than slightly alarmed now. Thankfully Edward picked up on my concern.

"Jasper, would you go with William please tonight? Keep a distance, just close enough for Will to be able to cover you? I don't like the idea of him being out there with two werewolves, completely on his own. I would go, but Leah _really_ doesn't like me much. I think I am second behind Rosalie on her hate list."

Jacob snorted. "You don't trust me. Huh! You scolded me yesterday for not trusting you!"

Carlisle offered to come too and remain with Jasper, to be on hand just in case something went wrong. I felt a little happier about this. The idea was that Jasper and Carlisle would be invisible to her anyway, masked by my skill, so they would just be a safe distance away, out of sight.

Seth chattered away to me for a while. He was fascinated by my skill and couldn't believe how effective it was. He really couldn't smell me, or any of the others at all. He was so obviously excited about the plans for this evening. He knew roughly where Leah would be, her usual hunting ground, which was close to the border line where Cullen Land met Quileute Land and so it would be easy to draw her in. "She will see William, but she won't be able to smell him and it will be really cool."

"Except for one minor detail," Alice interrupted him, "which is why you cannot go ahead with this plan. Believe me, it will make things a whole lot worse!"

All eyes turned to Alice. "What have you seen?" Bella was the first to ask.

"Leah, I have seen Leah, imprinting on William"

Silence filled the room apart from a couple of gasps. Everyone turned to look at me.

"Are you sure Alice?" Carlisle asked. "I didn't think you could see the wolves in your visions."

"Yes, I am sure. It is a little bit fuzzy, but it is definitely Leah. No, no no! This can't happen!"

"What?" Seth asked, "What is wrong with that. She would have to accept you all then if she imprinted on one of you."

"I'm afraid it doesn't work like that Seth," Carlisle explained. "It would be an impossible relationship. William would have to use his skill all the time, Leah would feel she had been tricked, and as much as you all think she would be happier if she found her soul-mate, she would not be happy if she fell in love with a vampire. This could not work. Alice, it's a good job you saw this coming. It would have been a disaster."

"I'm not so sure," Jacob was saying, "You see, imprinting is all-absorbing, it takes over your whole life. She wouldn't feel she had been tricked because she wouldn't be able to see past it. Yeah, I'm with Seth, I think it would be cool."

"Jacob, your judgement is clouded, you still have some half-cocked plan to wind her up. This isn't funny." Edward scolded.

"No, seriously blood-sucker," Jacob continued, "I am speaking from the heart here, I know about these things. I know what it is like to imprint on someone. I am the only one in this room who has been through it. I am the only one who truly knows how effective it is."

"But think about the practicalities. Vampire venom is poisonous to werewolves. Leah would not be able to lead a normal happy family life. It is unthinkable," Edward told him.

"You wouldn't listen when everyone was telling you the life you were leading was unthinkable, when you fell in love with a human." Jacob retorted.

"That was different..."

"Just a minute," I interrupted, while Edward struggled to reply to Jacob's point, which I had to admit, was a very good one, even for a werewolf. "Can I have a say in this please?"

Everyone turned to look at me.

"Thank you. I am not going out there tonight knowing that I am going to be imprinted on by a werewolf. I would like some happiness too please. By all accounts, and no offence intended Seth, I know she is your sister, but Leah sounds like a bit of a nightmare. Not the kind of person I want to spend my happily ever after with, nor do I want to be responsible for breaking her heart when I tell her I am not interested."

"No offence taken William," Seth replied, "And anyway, you are right. She is a nightmare!"

"Leah wouldn't be such a nightmare if she imprinted," Jacob grumbled.

"Give it up Jake, it isn't happening," Bella told him.

So that was the end of that. Plans were rescheduled for this evening's hunt. I would go with Alice and Jasper. Alice hadn't been hunting for a few days either. We would keep to the mountains East of Forks, well out of the way of Quileute territory.

Jacob and Seth would go hunting on their own land, and would keep to it if they knew what was good for them.

All would have been fine if Leah hadn't turned up right at that moment. She stood hovering on the doorstep unable to bring herself to ring the bell. She didn't walk freely into the Cullen's house like her brother and Jacob. She wasn't welcome here, especially not at the moment, but she was unaware of the conversation that had taken place.

Seth Walked awkwardly to the door to spare her any more anguish.

"Seth, mom wants you home. We have visitors."

"Ok, just coming, I'll let the others know." He didn't need to, we had heard the conversation from inside the house. Seth walked back in looking a little alarmed, "Sorry guys, I've got to go."

"Yes, that's ok Seth, we heard," Esme told him. "We'll see you again soon. You know you are always welcome."

Leah had followed him in, she was puzzled by something. First she just stuck her head around the door peering in, then whatever it was that was puzzling her was drawing her into the room. Her nose was working overtime and her eyes were darting around the room, looking for something. It then dawned on me that she was puzzled because she couldn't smell any of us. As soon as I realised, I turned it off immediately, not wanting to tempt fate. Attractive as she was I really didn't want Alice's visions to be acted out here in this room.

Jacob protested loudly, Seth laughed, and Leah backed towards the door.

Seth would no doubt explain on his way home. At least now Leah would be aware of my skill without feeling the need to imprint on me.

Jacob waited a few minutes and then turned to me and asked, "So, did you fancy her then?"

I pretended to punch him and we all fell about laughing.


	19. Chapter 19 The Funeral

**Chapter Nineteen**

**The Funeral**

Emmett and Rosalie returned a couple of days later. Rosalie, who had initially not been ready to face the family, had become homesick, and had asked Emmett to bring her home. The Delani coven sent their love and promised to visit soon. Garrett was still with them and was now inseparable from Kate. A wedding was being planned for later in the year, to which we would all be invited. I learned that Garrett was also a recent convert to the _vegetarian_ diet, as they called it. Emmett had told Garrett about me and he was keen to meet up to discuss progress.

Alice remained puzzled over why she could see Leah in her vision that night. We concluded that my skill must have allowed her to be able to see sketchy details. It wasn't working now; she couldn't see any of the wolves at all. If I used my skill, all she could see was Leah imprinting on me. Maybe it only worked if it directly affected me? We would try it out sometime, but I wasn't keen to push the idea, when the vision seemed so repetitively alarming.

Jacob spent less time in the Cullen mansion now that Rosalie was back I noticed, preferring the quieter surroundings of the cottage, or did he really just dislike Rosalie that much?

I alternated between the two, feeling just as comfortable with Jacob now as I did with the others. I even put up with him incessantly ribbing me about my near-imprinting experience. I felt a little sorry for Leah. It seemed she was the source of much amusement, but Jacob assured me it was justified.

"You don't know what a lucky escape you had." He reminded me.

"Well, nevertheless, I hope she imprints on someone more suitable soon," I told him. "Everyone deserves a soul-mate."

"She seemed kind of curious about you," he told me, "Kept asking questions about your skill and how it worked."

"Oh, shut up Jacob."

But he didn't. Of course he didn't. Jacob's purpose in life was to annoy the hell out of everyone.

I was able to have a long chat with Rosalie one night, when Emmett and Jasper had gone hunting. Up until that point Emmett had pretty much kept a very close guard on Rosalie. Emmett had asked me to keep an eye on her while he was out, which had annoyed Rosalie a little.

"I wish he wouldn't keep such a close watch on me. It makes me nervous." She said, pouting a little.

"Well, you did give us a bit of a scare running off like that."

"What would you have done?" she asked.

"Rose, I told you, I understand why you did it. Really, I did. I would probably have done the same, if I am honest. When I visited my family before I found your family here, I was close to exposing myself to them. It was so hard to tear myself away. Aren't you glad you went though? You were able to see your brother one last time."

"Yes, I am glad I went. I am sorry I went a little overboard, with all the stupid ideas about changing him into one of us."

"I understand that too Rose," I told her. "You just wanted to cling on to him."

"Yes," she said. "I had only just got him back and I could see him drifting away from me. Walking away was hardest thing I have ever had to do."

"He wouldn't have wanted to become an immortal at the age of nearly ninety. What kind of existence would that have been? Carlisle wasn't even sure if he would survive the transformation."

"Yes, I know. I am glad I listened to you all now. I am at peace with it."

"And at least he passed on knowing his sister was ok." I assured her. "Did he speak to you at all?"

"No, not really, all he said was _Rosalie, you are alive_! And then he smiled, his whole face changed into a beautiful warm relaxed smile and he closed his eyes. He never opened them again. Not fully anyway. It was peaceful in the end, and yes, I am glad I was there."

I sat next to her on the sofa. Holding her hand reassuringly for a few minutes and then she asked "Will you come to the funeral with me?"

This took me by surprise. "Um, I don't know. What if my family are there?"

"Sorry, yes, that would be tricky. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"We could ask Alice?" I offered. "Rose, I would love to, but they would recognise me. It would be dangerous."

"I'm not sure Alice will be able to see that much detail." Rosalie told me.

"I am still learning how her visions work. I was amazed at how much she could see when you were away the other night."

"Yes, but that is because she was concentrating on me, and the decisions I was making. She was able to give you that in depth detail because she knows me well. She would not be able to see who would be at the funeral, unless..."

"What?"

"Unless an event was likely to happen which would cause confrontation. Yes! You are right, Will. If something bad was going to happen, Alice would be able to see _that_."

Rosalie ran up the stairs, barely touching the treads "Alice! Alice!"

"What's the matter?" a panic-stricken Alice came rushing out of her room and met Rosalie on the landing. I was half-way there too now myself.

"Will said he would come to the funeral with me if he can be sure nothing bad will happen, like his family turning up and recognising him, or something. Would you be able to see that? Would you mind having a try?"

"Oh Rose, I'm not sure I can. I don't know what his family look like." Alice looked dejected.

"No, but you would know if something confrontational is going to happen. You can see William's future?"

"I don't know, I will try." She closed her eyes and tilted her head back slightly.

"Would a photo help?" I asked.

"Do you have one? I would like to see it anyway." Rosalie replied.

"I'm not sure it would help, but we will give it a try." Alice told us.

We then headed to my room and I dug deep into my back-pack and pulled out a scruffy clear plastic wallet that contained a few photos of my past.

"There, that is my mother and father and, well me obviously, here is one of my little sister, Karen, and here is one of all three of us, that's me, that's my brother Paul, and my sister again in the middle."

Alice took the photos and studied them and then handed them t othe impatient Rosalie who studied them even more intently, her finger tracing the outline of the picture of Karen. "She's gorgeous." Rose exclaimed. "We should get frames for these before they get ruined." She had temporarily forgotten Alice.

"No, I can't see anything, but I can't guarantee anything either. My visions don't always work Rose, you know that. You know I can't be held responsible for this. There are holes sometimes."

"Ok, yes, I understand. Hey, thanks for trying." Rosalie hugged her. Alice looked surprised.

"That's ok. Like I said, I can't say that nothing will happen, I just don't see it. If anything definite comes to me I will let you know. When is it anyway?"

"Next Thursday." Rosalie told her.

"Four days, no three. It is Sunday today?"

"Monday," I replied. "It's gone midnight."

"Ok, yeah, I'll keep watching to see if anything comes to mind."

We thanked her and headed down the stairs. Rosalie was already making plans for the funeral. Emmett would, of course, be going too. I still wasn't convinced it was a good idea but I didn't want to upset her just yet. I kept checking with Alice to see if she could see anything. She couldn't. At least now I would have a use for that suit she had bought me. Edward lent me a black tie.

So , two days later, the five of us left Forks to travel to the funeral. Yes, five of us. Alice had decided to come too, so she could warn us if she received any advance notice of anything disastrous happening. Also Jasper would be joining us, not wanting to be away from Alice, and aware that he may be able to exert some influence over Rosalie should she feel the need to lose her mind again. Carlisle lent us his car as it was the most practical for five vampires and all their luggage.

I wasn't sure why we needed so much luggage. "It's all part of the act," Alice explained. "Props."

It appeared we were booking into a hotel for the night before the funeral, which seemed a bit unnecessary, but it amused me the lengths that this family went to in order to blend in. I was learning all the time.

We took a detour to Rosalie's brother's house to see if it was all quiet, or whether any family were staying there. It might give us a clue as to who was likely to be attending the funeral. The house was silent. No movement at all. Alice had still not received any warnings, I kept checking. The fact that the house was empty meant nothing at all. The family would probably book into a hotel, or stay with other living relatives close by. Humans were wary of staying in houses where people had died, they were superstitious about such things.

The following morning was dull and overcast, thankfully. If it had been sunny it would have been impossible for any of us to go outside where humans would be present. This was going to be a big enough test for me in any case. I had hunted the night before we left, with the other four travelling companions, I had gorged myself on mountain lion until I couldn't take any more, but I still felt the overpowering blood-lust rearing its ugly head now that I was away from the safe sanctity of the Cullen mansion. I had a long way to go yet. The hotel had been a real challenge. The night had seemed endless. So many human heart-beats, so many defenceless humans snoring away in their beds; the smell had been almost unbearable. Jasper had said it was good practice for me. I had thought it was more like torture.

The funeral was taking place in a large church just a couple of blocks away from the house of death, followed by interment in the attached cemetery. I was glad it was a large church. We would be able to hide away at the back behind a pillar or something. We arrived about half an hour before the service was due to start and stood watching the mourners enter the church from a park across the street, under the shade of a large oak tree. I had not seen my family arrive, which was a relief. Just two minutes before eleven o'clock we filed into the back of the church and took our seats.

It was then that I noticed them. They were sitting at the opposite side of the church near the front. They had presumably arrived earlier than we had. I nudged Alice, who had positioned herself next to me and nodded in their direction. She recognised them from the photo I had shown her. They weren't looking around like we were, they, like all the other mourners were staring at the polished oak coffin that took centre stage at the front of the church. The vicar began the service.

Alice touched my arm as we stood up, and whispered, "It will be ok. Just relax. We will wait until all the mourners have left and then we can disappear. Just stay calm. They won't be looking at us. We will hide you. Don't worry. I will see if any danger is coming."

It was hard enough for me to stay calm anyway. I was a vampire in a church full of humans. There had to be close on to one hundred of them. I must keep calm. I must!

The service seemed to last for ever. Why had I allowed Rosalie to talk me into this? I found my eyes drifting too often to my family, longing to be able to speak to them, and yet knowing it was out of the question. The fire in my throat was unbearable with all the humans in such close proximity. This was really testing my resolve to the full. I reminded myself over and over again of the life I now led, the friendship I had found; the trust I had been given. How could I risk throwing that all away with one foolish action. Alice kept one steady hand on my arm throughout the extraordinarily long service, as a reminder that I was part of the family. I was fairly sure that Jasper too would have been playing his part, sending his calming waves in my direction from the other side of Alice. It just about held me together. It was enough to prevent me from becoming a mass-murdering monster.

As the humans began to leave the church, the bulky frame of Emmett moved across to block me from view. I kept my head down, just in case, but Alice had been right, no-one was looking at us. It was out of the question for me to go to the interment, and so Alice and Jasper came with me back to the car, where we sat, waiting patiently for Rosalie and Emmett. Rosalie was intent on seeing it through to the end. I forgave her for this; it was her brother after all. Rosalie was well disguised in any case, a mesh veil extending down from her elegant black hat, completely masking her face.

As luck would have it, we could watch the gathering around the grave from the parked car. The numbers had dwindled to about thirty now, and the blackened glass of Carlisle's Mercedes allowed me to watch my family from a safe distance, far enough away for a human not to even notice the car, let alone its occupants.

In some ways it would have better not to have been able to watch, as I was aware of how close Rosalie was standing to my mother, she even appeared to be talking to her at one point. This alarmed me considerably. Alice was sifting through her thoughts to see if she could pull up a vision that would reassure me, but all she could see was Rosalie talking to my mother and father, and to be frank, it wasn't helping to allay my fears. "It's ok, they are only talking," she reassured me. "Nothing bad will happen."

But what was she talking to them about? I couldn't wait for it to be over. I was longing to be back in Forks. People were beginning to drift away, some with their faces obscured with handkerchiefs, others with their heads bowed. Not Rosalie and Emmett. They were still coolly standing by the side of the grave, with a handful of others, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with my entire family. "Rose! No!" I found myself muttering. I wondered if they would notice her ice cold touch. She was wearing long-sleeved black gloves, of course, but surely that would not be enough to conceal the coldness of her skin. Jasper sent a wave of relaxation in my direction. Alice reassured me that nothing bad was going to happen, that they were just talking.

After what seemed like a life-time of tension, Rosalie and Emmett began walking back to the car, my family disappearing in a different direction. Rosalie was going to get it in the neck when she got back. Jasper was more than a little annoyed with her too for pushing the boundaries a fraction too far. Alice remained relatively cheerful. "See, I told you nothing would happen," she sang in her cheeryl soprano voice.

"Rose! What the …" I began to say but before I could finish she cut me off with a dazzling smile.

"Before you say anything, William, everything is ok, don't worry."

I looked anxiously at Emmett while Rosalie was making herself comfortable in the car next to me. Emmett nodded and assured me, "Yes, really, everything is fine, she didn't give anything away."

"Well, ok then, what did you say?"

"Don't worry. I told them I was one of the care nurses who used to visit Mr Hale. They believed me, and thanked me for all I had done and for coming to the funeral. I also told them, and I think you will be rather proud of me for doing this….."

"Go on," I urged, wondering what revelation she was about to make.

"Well, I couldn't help noticing how much your brother looks like you, in fact, I used that similarity as an excuse to talk to them. I pretended I thought it was you. I told them I had been at university with you in Seattle and that I had seen you recently, in Seattle. I remarked at what a coincidence it was, bumping into you on the other side of the US."

"You told them you had seen me?"

"Yes," she replied. "They told me I was mistaken, of course. They explained that the young lad was in fact your brother Paul, and that you had disappeared a couple of years ago. I apologised profusely for upsetting them, of course, but assured them that I had definitely seen you, about six months ago, before I moved to New York, or at least someone who looked very much like you. I put this caveat in so that it seemed like I wasn't one hundred per cent sure, I could have made a mistake...well, just in case you didn't want to..."

I was dumfounded. What did she think this was going to achieve? She had just reopened a painful chapter from the past that by now they would surely have put behind them.

"I know what you are thinking," she continued. "But, they have never gotten over you. They still have their doubts about your disappearance. Your mother, particularly, has never stopped believing you are alive. At least now I have given them hope, and one day, you may be able to be reunited with them, if you wanted to, just like Bella is with her father, like I would have wanted to be with my family. I have just planted some seeds, that is all."

I could see her point. But when was I ever going to be ready to blend in with humans? What would I tell them? What reason could I give for my disappearance? What reason would I give for the obvious change in my appearance? It was all a little far-fetched and seemingly impossible. I wasn't too hard on Rosalie though. She had been full of good intentions and it was thoughtful of her to lay this alternative path for me, even if I had no immediate plan to pursue it. She had been through such a lot in the last few days too, so I didn't chastise her.

We were silent for a long while on the journey home. Rosalie told me I would thank her one day, and so for the moment, we just agreed to leave it at that. She seemed a little offended that I hadn't been eternally grateful to her, but I had put that part of my life behind me now. I had another family, that I could be a part of without any need for pretence or lies, or even forgiveness.

As we got nearer to Forks, Alice got excited about another vision that had just popped into her head. "The Delani's are coming next week with wedding invitations," she announced cheerfully.


	20. Chapter 20 The Denali's

**Chapter Twenty**

**The Denali's**

There was a buzz of sheer excitement in the Cullen household over the next few days. More guest rooms were being prepared. Esme wasn't sure how many to prepare, so she decided to prepare five in case they all showed up and wanted separate rooms. Alice could only actually see three, Kate, Garrett and Tanya, however Esme wanted to be fully prepared, just in case. Everyone was delighted and eager to welcome them.

Well, almost everyone; There were two exceptions; Jacob understandably was extremely put-out "More blood-suckers," he moaned, "Just what I need." And he vowed to keep out of the way as much as possible while the extended family were here, lamenting that he wouldn't be able to spend as much time with Renesmee. I was a little more puzzled as to why Bella wasn't so keen. "Oh, ignore me," she told me, "The Denali's are lovely. You and Garrett will get on like a house on fire."

"Well, why aren't you as excited about it as the others then?" I couldn't help but ask her one day when we were on our own at the cottage.

"Well, because Tanya is so beautiful, well Kate is too, but Kate has Garrett now. Tanya is still without a mate and years ago she made a play for Edward; it just always makes me a little nervous. I'll be fine when they get here. Like I said, ignore me, I am being ridiculously paranoid."

"You are beautiful too Bella. Do you not see that?" I wasn't sure if I should have said that, with her being fairly recently wed, but I thought it might help to boost her confidence.

"Er, thanks, Will." She smiled and then added, "Well all vampires are beautiful. Wait until you see Tanya, you will see what I mean. She is exceptionally beautiful."

"Yes, but Edward loves you." I reminded her.

"Yes, he does and I thank him for it every day that goes by."

The day before they arrived, I finally agreed to go hunting with Jacob. Everyone else was too busy getting ready for the visit, making last minute preparations. Were they royalty or something? I guess my lack of excitement was because I didn't know them. I had one little concern about entrusting myself to Jacob, well apart from the obvious one of him being a mortal enemy. I was still concerned Jacob might deliberately lead me into Leah's path. I was pleased therefore when we headed off to the mountains; neutral territory. Had Jacob been given his orders or was he just being sensible for once?

We didn't really hunt together, like when I was with another member of the family. I could hear him, of course, and I knew he could hear me, but we kept a safe distance from each other, crossing paths and _checking in_ occasionally. I was slightly in awe of him in his wolf form. Standing next to him was more intimidating than I had imagined. I had not been prepared for just how gigantic he would be.

We headed back to the cottage together later that night after a successful hunt. Jacob had returned to his slightly less intimidating human form and had found the cut-offs that he had left behind a rock earlier that night. It dawned on me now why he wore so few clothes. I had assumed he was just showing of his muscular body.

"You're pretty cool actually, Will," he admitted after I had thanked him for putting his clothing back on. "I thought you would freak out, being that close to a wolf."

"Well," I replied, "I figured you would be in trouble if you returned without me. Rosalie wouldn't be pleased at all."

Jacob snorted and a deep growl came from somewhere inside him.

"I was also relieved you didn't take me near to Quileute territory," I told him.

"Oh yeah, Leah. You needn't worry about her. She's gone away," he replied, "Didn't Edward tell you? I assumed he would have read my thoughts and passed that on."

"No, I think Edward, like the rest of them, is a little preoccupied right now. Where has she gone?"

Jacob shrugged "Dunno, who cares?"

"Seth is still here though?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's just Leah. She's gone off with the new love of her life," Jacob told me. "Yeah, she finally imprinted, on one of our own kind. Not a shape-shifter, but another Native. Maybe we will all get a rest now?" he grinned. "Pity though, I was enjoying winding you up about it."

I laughed and told him I was pleased for her, genuinely. It would never have worked. It would have been like Princess Liea falling for Darth Vader, without the obvious father-daughter complication, I had added.

"Yeah," he mused, laughing.

It turned out that the visitors who had arrived the other night, causing Leah to venture into enemy territory to seek out her brother, Seth, were an important family from another tribe, direct descendants of the Chief. They had a daughter who they were anxious should meet Seth as they were of a similar age. Jacob thought they had been hoping for Seth to imprint, but it didn't happen. Seth wasn't keen at all, in fact, Seth had confided in Jake that he would rather stay single for ever. Seth had absented himself from home as much as possible while the visitors were there.

Anyway, their son had joined them the following day and Leah fell for him in a big way. It had been love at first sight. So the families would be united after all. Not in the way that had been hoped for, but nevertheless, it had been a satisfactory visit. So, it seemed Leah had left La Push to start her new life elsewhere. Jacob didn't know where and he didn't seem to particularly care.

"What will happen to her?" I asked.

"Well, she'll get married, live happily ever after and have about fifteen children, of course," Jacob replied, flashing his goofy smile.

"No, I mean, will she still be a werewolf?"

"Shape-shifter," Jacob corrected. "She will still have the capacity to phase for a while, but it will diminish with time, especially if there are no blood-suckers around," he sneered jokingly. "I wouldn't imagine she will want to phase, once she leaves starts her new life anyway. She will want to grow old with her husband."

"Are you immortal too then," I asked him.

"Well, yes, sort of, while we are still phasing. We reach an age of approximately twenty five rather rapidly once we change, but then we don't mature any further, until we stop phasing, "he told me.

"How old are you then Jacob, I mean how old would you be if you were human?"

"I am human!" he retorted and then grinned, "Yeah, I know what you meant. Seventeen, I think I just had my seventeenth birthday. It's difficult to remember sometimes. It seems kind or irrelevant."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Anyway, you look twenty five." I told him.

"Thanks!" he grumbled, "Old before my time."

"What do you know of these visitors that are coming here?" I asked him.

"The blood-suckers from Alaska?"

I nodded.

He shrugged, "Not a lot, I haven't really paid too much attention to them. They are just more irritating leeches to me. I do know that it was one of them that got the Cullens into trouble with the Volturi though. She informed them about Nessie. She was the cause of it all."

"Oh, I see...Alice told me there had been an informer, she said they had forgiven her because she couldn't have known the truth as she wasn't close enough to see properly or something. But she didn't say who it was."

"Yeah, well it was one of them. The Volturi killed her anyway, so serves her right."

"They killed her because she had told tales on someone?"

"No, they killed her because she hadn't bothered to find out the truth."

"Seems a bit harsh."

"Maybe," Jacob paused for a minute and then added, "But they had come all this way to pass sentence, and someone had to die. It was like they had to prove a point or something. So, while they were making up their minds about Nessie they killed the informer. As I said, it serves her right."

I supposed it was natural for Jacob to feel that way. She was, after all, just another blood-sucker to him, one he didn't know, and one that had put Renesmee in mortal danger. I could understand his sentiment.

"Hey, maybe the rest of them won't seem so bad if you can hide them with your skill," Jacob said light-heartedly, lifting the mood.

The Denali's arrived around mid-day. It was, as Alice had foreseen, just the three of them. I was keeping out of the way while all the greetings were taking place in the huge entrance hall, not entirely sure if they knew I was still here. I noticed Bella had held back slightly too initially, hovering in the background like I was, but Renesmee had pulled her forward and now she was in the thick of it, with the others. Then came my cue, "Will?" I heard Alice call. "Where is William?"

"I'm here, Alice," I replied, trying to sound like I hadn't felt excluded.

"Oh, there you are," Esme said warmly, "The newest member of our family. Come and meet the Denali's, Kate, Garrett and Tanya."

I was immediately struck by their beauty, Tanya was just as breath-taking as Bella had described, more so, in fact. Kate and Garrett had their arms linked together and were smiling pleasantly at me, but Tanya stood a little distance from them, looking very much on her own, her strawberry blonde hair flowing down over her shoulders to her waist, her exquisite features offering me the friendliest and most radiant of smiles. I was completely bowled over by her. She had taken my breath away. My gaze caught hers momentarily, as she stepped forward, and I knew instantly that something had happened, some inner feelings had been communicated silently between us. I felt the chemistry.

"Why Rose, you didn't tell me your guest was so handsome," she crooned. She held out her hand to me and I instinctively leant forward and kissed it, rather than shaking it, which I think had been her initial intention, however, far from backing away, she reached out, grabbing me by the shoulders and kissed me gently on both cheeks. Had she lingered slightly when she had done this or was I getting carried away?

No, I was sure of it. Feelings began to emerge from somewhere deep inside of me, feelings I hadn't experienced since becoming a vampire, and judging from the way she was quivering slightly too, still unable to release me from her grip. I knew that moment, that things were about to change.

**This is the end of my story for now. I hope you have enjoyed it. Freaky Fred A.K.A. William has found his soul-mate. I may continue it another time, but I am going to concentrate on something else for now. Thanks for reading.**


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